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Firearm

2022-05-04T21:44:18Z

2607:FB90:6FF4:7A06:D087:A795:6215:797A: /* DIY */

[[image:Shotgun After Firing.jpg|thumb|450px|right|Nothing like the smell of burnt powder in the morning]]
About twelve hundred years ago in [[China]], some people figured out that certain chemicals mixed together (such as potassium nitrate, carbon, and sulphur) rapidly combusted when brought to spark, which became known as "black powder." After some experimentation, they discovered that a tube sealed off at one end could be used to contain the pressure of said combustion and focus it into an explosion to propel an object at high speeds. After a few centuries of refinement, and invention of the frag grenade, they managed to take that mechanical principle and apply it as a weapon of warfare which changed the game: the arquebus. Comparatively cheap, easy to make, easy to learn to use, and capable of penetrating all but the heaviest armor, this marked a transition away from close quarters to ranged warfare.

In modern times, firearms are the staple weapons of any nation. Speculative fiction showcases weapons that don't even fire solid projectiles, like [[lasgun|lasers]].

From an engineering standpoint, firearms had a big difference from previous weapons in that they don't require the user's muscle power to work. Swords, maces, and axes are swung, spears are thrust, and bowstrings need to be drawn. Even crossbows and siege weapons work by storing muscle power via tension until it's released. The energy required to accelerate a firearm's projectile comes from explosive propellants; all the user needs to do is to hold the weapon, aim, brace themselves and set off said explosive charge. The significance of this is illustrated in the American Proverb: "God made man, Sam Colt (the inventor of the first practical revolver) made them equal." Having a reliable repeating gun means that your simple brute physical strength does not mean as much in a fight as it would in a bare knuckle brawl or a swordfight (either defensively or offensively).

The firearm's bigger bro is the [[Cannon]] and its cousin is the [[Rocket]].

==How Traditional Guns Work==
For our non-firearm oriented friends, here's a brief, heavily condensed explanation of how these murdersticks work. These instructions will probably vary depending on the type of gun you're using.

[[image:Teppo.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Some Tanegashima matchlocks]]
===Olden Muzzle-Loading Guns===
====The Slow Way====
1. Put your musket in half-cock position. Take your powder flask, and pour a few grains into the flashpan. Pour some more down the barrel (amount can vary wildly; later powder flasks come with built-in measuring tools for ease of use and safety). Ram the powder, bullet, and cloth wad down the barrel of your gun. Ensure you're doing this in correct order because [[Not as Planned|putting the ball first, then powder, for example, can lead to hilarious and/or lethal results]].
 2. If you're using a matchlock gun: light up the fuse, aim and brace yourself, and lastly wait for the fuse to burn out. If you're using a flintlock gun: just cock the mechanism. With percussion caps, replace the explosive cap on the firing titty after cocking the hammer. In any case, aim once you're done setting it up.
 3. Once the powder burns; the gasses from explosion of the black powder will send the bullet flying out of the barrel like a bat out of hell and penetrate into something or someone, and if you're lucky it might actually hit what you were aiming at. Also, hope you aren't downwind because guns during this time generated ''a lot'' of black smoke.
 4. Take stock of the situation. If you've managed to hit anyone or you're currently still in a shooting war; repeat step 1. If your firing line missed most of their shots and those barbarians are charging up your position; [[Imperial Guard|affix bayonets]]. Additionally, if you have time, make sure to use the ramming rod to clean out the barrels of residue to avoid an explosive jam that could burst your barrel (said note applies to all guns unless you're using smokeless powder).

====The Not-Quite-As-Slow Way====
1. Take your paper cartridge, and bite off the end with the powder in it. Carefully pour a few grains into the flashpan, and the rest down the barrel. Take the remainder of the cartridge, ball and paper, and ram it down the barrel.
 2. Follow steps 2 through 4 as above. Paper cartridges have the advantage of saving you a few seconds of precious time while reloading, which can mean the difference between life and death on the battlefield. Another advantage is that they can be made somewhat weatherproof with a grease coating. But if you're just hunting or can't find/afford paper, most people didn't bother with the time-consuming preparations. Towards the end of the muzzle-loading era, paper cartridges could be chemically treated to be more flammable, so tearing them open became unnecessary. This was mostly done with revolvers.

===Single-Action Guns===
1. Load rounds into the magazine (or chamber if it's a single cartridge gun), remove the safety, work the action (pump the slide, rack the bolt, cock the hammer, et cetera) to chamber a round, and aim.
 2. Pull the trigger, this will cause the hammer to strike the primer on the chambered round and cause the powder inside the shell casing to ignite and explode; sending high-pressure gases screaming out of the barrel while propelling the solid bullet out at high speed towards whatever you were aiming at. If you're using single-action flintlock guns; see above for the result.
 3. Because the gun lacks a mechanism to re-chamber itself; you now have to work the action again to eject the spent shell (unless its a revolver, in which case you do that while reloading) and load another round into the chamber. How you do this depends on the gun in question.
 4. Repeat until you run out of bullets in the magazine if your gun has one or you have a spare moment where nobody's shooting at you, in which case either reload the magazine or load a new round (the default case if you're using a single round breechloader).

===Auto-Loading Guns===
1. Load rounds into the magazine, remove the safety, work the action to chamber a round, and aim.
 2. Pull the trigger and this causes the same effect as stated above.
 3. Because of the mechanism of the gun; it redirects some of the forces used to propel the bullet to work its action, eject the spent shell (unless its a DA revolver), re-chamber another round, and allow you to shoot again by just pulling the trigger. The forces used depend on the gun in question, some use a gas block to redirect some of the gasses expelled by bullets, while other uses the force of the recoil itself, to work the action and chamber another round. Additionally, it could also re-chamber itself using a mechanical sequence (like revolvers) or is electrically operated.
 4. If you're using an automatic; hold the trigger down and only release it once you want to stop shooting (or are forced to do so due to lack of ammo). If you're using a semi-automatic; pull the trigger again to fire another round.
 5. Repeat until you run out of bullets or you have a spare moment where nobody's shooting at you, in which case either reload the magazine or load a new one.

==A Brief History of Firearms==
'''800's:''' Taoist monks attempting to find an elixir of immortality stumbled on the next best thing: a substance that would suddenly and violently make things very dead. They'd discovered potassium nitrate (alternatively called saltpeter), a white crystalline powder that burned with a purple flame. When mixed with powders of charcoal and sulfur the resulting substance would burn instantly and aggressively on exposure to flame. It didn't take long for the Chinese to start inventing ways to use it.

[[image:Firelance.jpg‎|thumb|150px|left|The Firelance, the Chinese invention that started this all]]
'''1000s to 1200s:''' The Chinese realize they can make barbarians shit their pants by shooting hollowed arrows packed with powder and bamboo tubes filled with powder and pebbles at them. Bamboo gradually gives way to cast iron and bronze. The Mongol Invasion accelerated the development as the Song Government tried everything to fight them off, which the Mongols often stole and used themselves.

'''1300s:''' Various gunpowder weapons begin to proliferate westward along the Silk Road, aided by the [[Mongols]]. Crude versions of hand cannons, grenades, rockets, and flamethrowers all see use. Despite considerable psychological effect and good armor penetration, most of these weapons are only marginally more likely to kill the target than the user and had a range of only twenty or so meters. As such, their use is not widespread. For the most part, these weapons were used by skirmishers and guards. The fact that they were so dangerous meant they were mostly used by low class soldiers, and in turn this meant that the smiths making them were generally not the most skilled artisans; which did little to improve quality even given the limitations of the day. Even so, the designs and methods of manufacture were gradually refined and improved by various early gunsmiths through trial and error if nothing else.

'''1400s''': Hand cannons see continued and expanded use. Bit by bit from the crude handgonnes of previous centuries, the first "true" firearms evolve with the gradual development of the matchlock, taking on the basic shape of lock, stock, trigger, and barrel (which is where we get the saying from). By clamping a lighted wick into a flashpan via a trigger, the shooter is able to aim ''and'' fire at the same time, making him markedly less likely to blow his own jimmies off. Despite advances, the matchlock was unwieldy, unreliable, and generally inferior to a good bowman. The issue of course is that only England (in Europe) HAD good bowmen; bowmen were the scum of the army everywhere else. This didn't stop some inventive commanders from seeing their potential, particularly with poorly trained conscript soldiers. [[Weeaboo|Some forces]] made a go of it by carrying two or three guns at a time and just throwing the spent ones away like a really shitty Matrix movie. Note: while we use a "weeaboo" hyperlink up there, it's worth remembering that troops like cuirassiers and even pirates would do the same thing with pistols, carrying a whole brace of them, but they just did not exist yet. By the 1400's having more then one gun was the only way to have any real rate of fire before breechloaders existed.

'''1500s:''' Guns continue to evolve with the invention of spring-loaded firing mechanisms. The wheel-lock spins a steel plate against sulfide rocks to produce sparks (think cigarette lighters), which ignites powder a flash pan. This was revolutionary, allowing soldiers to prime their weapon in a matter of seconds instead of fucking around with a lit wick, and allowed calvary to use guns for the first time while on horseback, giving rise to the cuirassiers. It also means that for the first time, guns weren't completely fucked in the rain, just mostly fucked. They also cost a lot to make and were still not completely reliable, so most people stuck with matchlocks. Powder formulas had improved considerably, including the development of the more powerful, stable, and moisture-resistant corned powder made by wetting raw gunpowder, forming it into cakes, crushing them, and sieving them for size. Japan's Oda Nobunaga was particularly notable in the history of firearms for his heavy transition from blades to guns after discovering the novelty of matchlock guns. In fact, by the end of the 1500s, they had more trained arquebusiers in their armies and produced more matchlocks than any other country to date during that period and had the most guns per capita in the world. They still relied on yari equipped pikemen to keep cavalry away but by this time, mounted archery and swordsmen had taken a backseat as supporting units like the knights and winged hussars in Europe. Meanwhile, virtually every army figured out how to use a combination of volley fire in dense square formations surrounded by pikemen (called Pike and Shot) or roughly equivalent units of gunmen protected by spearmen (such as the Chinese Mandarin Duck platoon formations); making armored cavalry, crossbows, & longbows outdated. Accuracy still sucked but that was what the massed shooting was meant to compensate for and soldiers were trained to just point their matchlock in the vague direction of the enemy en masse and fire.

[[image:FlintlockMechanism.jpg‎|thumb|200px|right|The flintlock mechanism. Now you did not need to light some string and put it into a serpentine before firing]]
'''1600s''' The wheellock is refined into the simpler and more reliable flintlock, though it would take some time to supersede the matchlock. Muzzle loading is simplified with the creation of paper cartridges, essentially the pre-measured cake mix of murder. Some German dudes came up with the idea of cutting spirals into the barrel, which they called "rifling," to spin-stabilize the bullet so that they wouldn't have to walk up right next to their targets to hit them, but this required a barrel tighter than a nun's cunt, a hammer to ram the ball in, and grooved bullets made for the gun so it could fit the rifling of the gun like the cap to a soda bottle. To put all that into perspective: well-trained musketeers could fire three to four shots a minute, while a rifleman could only manage one shot every minute. Not great, however the idea of spin-stabilisation hung around and payed off in later times. Breechloaders are invented alongside the flintlock in both Europe and China but the problem of hot gas leaking and burning shooters' hands made them limited in use and in number. Hence, while nobles such as King Henry could own a breech loading rifle for hunting ducks, said breech loaders were either expensive to make in good quality, leaked hot gas every time you shot a less finely crafted piece, or was of inferior performance to the basic muzzleloader.

'''1700s''': The French invent the bayonet, allowing their troops to be [[choppa|choppy]] while they were [[dakka|shooty]]. Thus, the Pike and Shot formation became the Bayonet and Shot formation. That and refinement of tactics led to the dense but slow and cumbersome square formations being reformed into thinner but more responsive rectangle formations. This is the point where gun infantry tactics become the dominant (though still not only) form of fighting when guns go from one of a few common infantry weapons to the primary weapon used by most infantry. Formations of musketeers go from big square blocks to lines two or three ranks thick to put enough bullets in the enemy's ranks as quickly as possible. In the 1600's armies had started to realize that dividing up your people into groups and firing in turn would allow you to maintain fire while reloading (particularly the English with the New Model Army), but it was in the 1700's that everyone really got good at drilling it into soldiers how to fight in lines. Another interesting development at this time was the creation of the air gun. As seen with the Italian Girardoni air rifle, it was issued to specialized sharpshooters who valued it's silence, long range, and rapid-firing capabilities. Their apparent effectiveness in the Austrian Army's Windbüchse Jägers during the Napoleonic Wars was such that according to legend (which is disputed by historians), Bonaparte himself was so angry that he desired for any soldier captured from those units to be hanged as assassins or spies instead of treated as a regular POW. However, the difficulties of making and maintaining reliable pressure tanks and air pumps meant it couldn't compete or become mainstream once conventional rifles and breechloaders were improved upon.
[[image:Chassepot.jpg‎|thumb|200px|left|The mechanism of a French Chassepot needle rifle, an early bolt action rifle, as well as its paper cartridge]]

'''1800s''': Pretty much everything that makes up a modern firearm is invented here. Some English fools discovered fulminates, an unstable explosive compound that could be put in a metal cap that would instantly ignite if you slam it with a hammer; which led to the first explosive primers. So flintlocks transitioned to percussion caps. This basically involves putting explosives in your explosives to explode your explosives. Eventually, standardized methods of making copper & later brass casings by the French and English replaced paper cartridges; making gas leakage in breech loading mechanisms a thing of the past. Cartridges that contain a primer, propellant, and slug, similar to modern-day bullets, are developed. With this, not only was loading ammunition simplified with a package that contained everything needed for a gun to fire, it also made it waterproof & easier for conscripts to load. Furthermore, the brass casings' small expansion when firing served to seal the firing chamber to prevent hot gases from leaking and burning users’ hands. Extracting the flush but stuck cartridge in the chamber was simply a matter of adding extraction pins that were manually pressed to kick them out by the rims on the bottom base. By this time, wars were largely fought using firearms rather than melee weapons, though also by this time firearms were also melee weapons as in the early 1800s the bayonet charge was still both an accepted and useful tactic.

By the late 1800 inventors had finally gotten the technology to contain the force of the gunpowder explosion with a tight seal and do so cheaply. Experiments that had been done earlier like the Puckle gun (1718), Ferguson rifle (1776), and even the bizarre 1780 Girandoni Air Rifle, [http://1d4chan.org/wiki/Steampunk which was an air gun with a 20 round magazine], all failed to create breech loading rifles cheaply. See, despite that it was well known that that slotting in bullets from the rear and using a mechanism to load it into the chamber is much simpler than spending about half a minute to ram it down a long barrel, the technology was just not there as without cheap steel with good quality control (cheap is important for hand guns you are going to mass-produce). In the meantime, getting regular iron to contain the explosion without deforming, cracking, and leaking gas - thus weakening the shot - was a nightmare. The Industrial Revolution, among other things, gave birth to the ability to mass produce novelty features such as "breech-loading" and later "magazines" and simpler mechanised feeding systems like tubes, slides, cylinders, and bolt-actions. The likes of pump-action shotguns, bolt-action rifles, and lever-action rifles, and revolver and semi-automatic pistols, are developed and/or developed upon, giving a glimpse on how weapons in the future would function. Near the end of the decade, some French guys worked out that they could both improve firepower and keep their guns considerably cleaner by replacing black powder with nitrocellulose, the first of many "smokeless powders." Also known as “guncotton/flash-paper,” it was first discovered by some German chemist who accidentally soaked a cotton apron in a nitric/sulfuric acid mix before trying to dry it by the fire; culminating with explosive results. After various explosive bouts of trial and error, the French managed to alter its formula to make it stable enough to use without blowing up its creators. They stabilized it by soaking and drying it a second time in alcohol. Next, they added stabilizer compounds that made concoction safe to make without blowing factories sky high from static electricity. This alongside partly dissolving it in ether/alcohol to form collodion before adding extra explosive compounds such as nitroglycerin served to make it more malleable and explosive for shells and artillery. Shaping it was simply a matter of spinning it into stiff thread/yarn to be cut down to desired pellet sizes. Not only is there a massive increase in power, its also a clean burn compared to the highly corrosive nature of black power and the horrible maintenance pain that comes with that. This won't matter ''as'' much for another century, since the primers are still corrosive.

Just as important as the new designs that came about during this period were the new methods of production. People like Eli Whitney worked out devices such as milling machines, which allowed for the quick production of finely tuned parts which were so close in size that you could take one bit off one gun, stick it on another from the same line, and it would work just as fine. Breech loading and repeating firearms had existed for centuries beforehand, but were not cost effective to mass-produce until the Industrial Revolution.
[[image:Lee-Enfield Rifle.jpg|thumb|200px|right|A British Lee-Enfield Bolt Action Repeating rifle]]
This is also the time where the first "automatic" guns were invented and put into production. The word "automatic" is in quotes because these early machine guns were not self-reciprocating; they did not load and fire themselves and were instead manually powered. The most famous (and successful) of these weapons is the Gatling gun, which saw limited action in the American Civil War, but became much more widely used the world over in subsequent wars. But while it was the most famous, the Gatling was not the only manual machine gun developed; dozens of different types were produced during the US Civil War alone on both sides, but because these guns tended to be mounted on cannon carriages they were treated like cannons instead of the close support weapon machines guns are, so it took some time for them to hit their stride. Some were hooked up to a motor and became true machine guns, giving them a rate of fire that's high even by today's standards, but the requirement of having a power source meant it only saw limited use on ships.

The first works of the great John Moses Browning start showing up. While his 20th century inventions are more famous, his perfection of the lever action, and invention of the pump action shotgun were major advances. Browning would even patent a semi-automatic shotgun by the end of the 19th century, though it would not be produced till the 20th.

'''1900-early 1930s''': The heyday of guns because of the advent of WW1. The idea of bolt-action rifles are popularized, along with semi-automatic and fully-automatic weapons. Bolt-action rifles meant that riflemen no longer had to be confined to shooting one round at a time before needing to reload as they could now load individual clips that contained 5-10 rounds a piece. Machine guns are now becoming more and more popular in the battlefields, drastically changing the way infantry would maneuver the battlefield as a single MG emplacement can effectively cripple platoons with the right positioning. Submachine guns are developed by the Italians through total accident, as it turned out their pistol caliber machine gun designed for air-to-air fighting (remember planes of this era were very fragile) was effective as an infantry weapon. The German Empire would be the first to make a purpose built infantry sub-machine gun, giving the rest of the world an idea of the wonders of a lightweight fully-automatic weapon that could easily be used by infantrymen, which was previously restricted to crew-served heavy machine guns and the still heavy BAR. They were so impressive, the various post-war regulations prohibited the Germans from having a military armed with them ([[Derp|completely missing the loophole that the Germans could just arm civilians like police and railway guards with them and have a German owned company in Switzerland build them]]).

On the subject of the machine guns, if there was ever a weapon that represented this part of history it would be the heavy machine gun. We talked about the hand powered machine guns above, and while good when used correctly, these weapons have their issues. In order to use most of them, you had to be standing up to turn the crank and sustained fire was tiring, but the hand cranked guns had one major advantage: the most successful of the hand-cranked guns, like the Gatling or Gardner, had multiple barrels meaning you can fire them with little or no need to stop to let the barrels cool down. At the dawn of the 20th century, this is what the early machine guns had to be compared to when European generals went window shopping. The solution was water-cooling, which allowed machine guns to fire for countless hours with little or no failures, but at the cost of weight rendering them truly static, though highly effective, weapons. If you could point to two developments that caused the First World War's trench warfare, you can point to water-cooled machine guns and barbed wire.

The semi-automatic pistol had some developments in the last decade of the 19th century, but only the bulky C96 Mauser would see any real popularity, with next most notable, the Borchardt C-93, only having a few thousand made. The Borchardt’s refinement by Georg Luger would be one of the big game changers, as it saw adoption by the Swiss in 1900 and Germany in 1904. John Moses Browning would be the real pioneer, creating a series of pocket pistols that saw widespread success in civilian sales. He would cap this off with the 1911 in the same year, his first military pistol that was then adopted by the US military. He designed the 1935 Browning Hi-Power, but didn’t live to see it completed by his apprentice Dieudonné Saive and his son Val Browning. The pistol was produced by both sides of World War II (its factory was captured when Belgium was invaded, but Saive would flee with the plans and produce them in Canada), and all future developments amounted to more plastic, and a few improvements to safeties. All the mainstream self-loading pistol cartridges that remain in use are from this era except for 9x18 Makarov (unique more to deny captured pistols ammo than effectiveness), .40 S&W (never adopted by a military and rapidly falling out of favor after its main user decided to go back to 9mm), and some rounds intended to defeat body armor that aren’t primarily for pistols anyways.

'''late 1930s-1940s''': At the start of World War II, all of the powers involved, France, England, Germany, and Russia, were armed with bolt action weapons. Over the course of the war, automatic and semi-automatic rifles started to become more common; however, only the Americans completely phased out bolt-action rifles for standard infantry by the time of the war (Marines and Army units in the Pacific Front were stuck with the old stuff for a few months due to the Germany First policy). Submachine guns are now becoming more popular with various armies around the world, making it the staple lightweight automatic weapon for infantry troops, totally redefining urban combat due to the weapon's great effectiveness in close combat. Nazi Germany invents the ''Sturmgewehr 44'', the first widely produced assault rifle (the Fedorov Avtomat was the first to be put into service, introduced in 1915, but production was limited due to costs [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Revolution and uh, well...]). This weapon would later become the template for modern assault rifles used by the world over.

[[image:QBZ-95.jpg|thumb|200px|left|A QBZ-95 Assault Rifle, the current service rifle of the People's Republic of China, note bullpup configuration (the magazine feeds behind the trigger), thus saving space]]

One unsung advance is the production side. Advances in manufacturing phase out final hand-fitting (that the 1911 and M1 Garand predate this is why current production still varies and costs so much). The M1 Carbine, due to extensive efforts by the US military, it was the first firearm to have all parts be completely interchangeable, no matter which factory it was made in.

'''1950s-1990s''': With World War II over, the armies of the world had a chance to study Germany's assault rifle and built their own. The key invention was selective fire, which allowed a single weapon to serve as a traditional rifle or a somewhat long and unwieldy submachine gun. Burst fire was also developed, intended to fire a grouping of rounds to defeat personal body armor but automatically stop before the recoil of fully automatic fire would have a significant impact on aim. The USSR's entry was the AK-47, which was powerful, easy to mass produce, and legendarily tolerant of mistreatment after briefly flirting with the SKS (a semiautomatic carbine fed by stripper clips). On the other side of the world, the US briefly experimented with an automatic version of the M1 known as the M14, before (mostly) getting their shit together and developing the M16, which was expensive, complicated, and notoriously finicky. One thing not to be underestimated is the standardization introduced by NATO and the Warsaw Pact. Gone were incompatible calibers unique to each nation, and in their place were a single pistol caliber (9x19 for NATO, unless you were an American snowflake, and 9x18 for Pact.), a single intermediate caliber (5.56x45 for NATO, 7.62x39 for Pact, later 5.45x39 in certain Pact countries), a single full power rifle cartridge (7.62x51 for NATO, unless you were a French snowflake, and the venerable 7.62x54 for Pact), and heavy machine gun cartridge (.50 BMG for NATO and 12.7×108mm for Pact) for small arms. Even before NATO standardization was officially a thing, many western countries eagerly armed themselves with American surplus M1 Garands and M1 Carbines, which greatly simplified things.

'''2000s''': With the invention of more advanced materials such as plastics and carbon fiber, along with numerous technological advancements of the modern world, firearms are... basically the same they've been for the last fifty years, just usually lighter and with more options. Serious efforts were made to look at new designs like caseless ammo and fused smart grenade bullets, but most went nowhere. The most significant development in firearm technology was the advent of practical ranged tasers; essentially wired dart launchers with high voltage capacitors, they're the first handguns ostensibly intended for less lethal force (occasional heart attacks not withstanding) that weren't a total joke (like pistol caliber tear gas rounds).

'''2010s''': Relatively speaking, guns have changed a lot and a little in the following years. Primarily, there had been emphasis placed on modularity, mobility, and ruggedness as can be seen with Western nations adoption firearms such as HK416 variants or overall improving the current M4 system. Development of practical telescopic and caseless ammo (LSAT program), and ship cannon sized railguns (The Naval Research Laboratory) have been placed, with the former showing fruition into the NGSW program (see 2020s). The main innovation at this time comes from the improvement of optics, machining techniques (such as CNC machining), materials (stronger and lighter polymers as well as overall better metal alloys), and further optimized design. New designer rounds have been developed to compete with conventional military ammunition, however by late 2019 most have fallen into either becoming niche or have lost traction/attention for wider spread use. Thus in 2010s the firearm technology focus was improving and fine tuning current technologies with some developments into more experimental areas.

[[File:LSAT telescopic ammo.png|200px|thumb|right| Further development of practical telescopic ammo. Designed to be provide reduce weight not not compromising muzzle energy. Culminated into the NGSW program]]

On the more individual front, CNC and 3D printing development has improved significantly enough that either personally designed or online sourced designs can be used to produce firearms parts and associated equipment that can be used to quintessentially make home made firearms. Although several nations have tried to curb this onset of what have come to be called ghost guns, this phenomenon is here to stay. On a larger scale production front, CNC firearms manufacturing allows for more precise machining thus superior fit and finish and improved tolerances.

[[File:Textron Systems, General Dynamics, and SIG Sauer NGSW-R respectively.png|300px|thumb|left| NGSW system prototypes by different companies competing for the potential to become America's new service rifle. The last one is the winner.]]

'''2020s''': With the rising commonality of rifle resistant gear (i.e. body armor and helmets, eg not unheard of for soldiers to survive otherwise direct fatal blows thanks to modern helmets), need for reduction of weight and increased mobility, ability to react to both close and extended range threats (eg M4A1/M27 accurately pushes to 500/600 meters where engagement ranges can exceed 800 meters), and desire to [[Powergamer|overmatch competing militaries]], Western firearms development has begun to focus on new munitions. Namely looking to full power and reduced weight ammunition (be it polymer or reinforced) that can reach out lengthy distance without being excessively heavy or cumbersome. In that regards, the US Army is looking into the NGSW system program, with several contractors competing for the program. Thus far the competition as of 2020 consists of AAI Textron Systems (backed H&K & Winchester), General Dynamics, and SIG Sauer competing for the bid.

Currently the US Military and its branches are looking at 6.8mm NGSW (no XM designation yet), 6.5mm Creedmoor, and .338 Lapua/Norma Magnum to either replace or supplement current ammunition such as 5.56 and 7.62 NATO. The latter most more so because American snipers found themselves outmatched by their European counterparts. Come April 2022 and the Sig Sauer candidate has been declared the winner. While sporting a conventional layout and using standard brass ammunition, it’ll likely get the job done and will be issued to infantry, scout, and combat engineer units in the Army while everyone else will keep the M4 until further notice. Or they'll just do another competition to get an actual caseless round to replace everything and have XM5's be used by line units until then.

[http://As%20of%202021%20if%20you%20have%203,https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAHKS0nVlL4 As of 2022 if you have 3,500 dollars you, yes YOU can buy a working Gauss rifle]. While definitely out of the reach of most armed forces for mass deployment, it took less then 1 human life time to go from the Wright Brothers to the heavy multi-engine bombers of WWII so the technology is coming.

== GUN SAFETY ==
Should be self-evident, but to be frank it isn't. Between the movies having actors brandishing guns everywhere, the video games and toys like airsoft that make them look more harmless than they are and plain human ignorance and negligence; people forget that they're holding something that could easily scatter someone's brains or outright remove their skull.

That said, there are four main rules to gun safety.
*Muzzle sweep: Avoid this. Muzzle sweep is one when points or sweeps a gun in a direction onto people or objects that could get harmed. To avoid this, one should keep the gun's barrel pointed away from anything that you don't intend to destroy or value. This means one must be conscious of where they are pointing it. Or in other words, '''never point the gun at something you don't want to shoot!'''

*'''Treat every firearm as if they were loaded at all times.''' Even if you fully know the gun is empty after removing the magazine and checking the chamber, still treat it as if it wasn't. This creates a force of habit so that if you are ever in a rush/interrupted while handling your gun/given a weapon by someone else/whatever... you will avoid any mishaps and tragedies that could arise because you think the gun is empty where it actually isn't. The only obvious exception is during maintenance, and that's only after visually and physically ensuring the chamber is clear and the magazine is removed (or empty if your gun's magazine is built-in). Don't feel peer pressure to stop obsessively checking each and every chamber around. As far as addictions go, this is not a bad one. Always, always check multiple times. If you don't feel sure for a single moment, check it. Better to waste a couple of seconds than a life, ask Alec Baldwin.

*'''Know the target, what's in front of the target, and what's behind the target.''' Remember, bullets are designed to punch holes in things. Even if you've got pinpoint accuracy, the bullet might go right through the target and kill some guy who's just minding his own business. This is why any self-respecting firing range has a thick wall or a pile of packed-down dirt behind the targets. Bullets that don't punch through the target and don't shatter (like frangible rounds made of sintered metal) can ricochet back at the shooter or others around them. For this reason, shooting at metal targets is usually done with the targets angled down.

*Trigger discipline: '''Never put your finger on the trigger unless you want to kill/destroy whatever you're pointing your gun at.''' Why? Any number of things, either in a firefight or peaceful day in the gun range, can cause you to be spooked and involuntary clench your fingers. If your finger happens to be on the trigger of a live gun, you can potentially cause a negligent discharge, and that's bad. As in "You're putting your and other people's lives at great risk for being a colossal idiot" bad. It doesn't matter if you're a hardcore Tier 1 spec ops operator or regular Joe taking on recreational backyard shooting, everyone's susceptible to the dreaded ND, which is why it should be second nature for you to always keep your finger '''''off''''' the trigger until ready to fire.

Easy, right? Well... apparently not. Ask any gun enthusiast and they'll gladly tell you all sorts of horror stories that happened because [[That Guy|somebody]] failed to follow these simple rules.

And for the love of the God-Emperor, don't be a fucking tool and mix alcohol/drugs and firearms together. Doing so, very, very unsurprisingly results in the breaking of one or more of the aforementioned rules.

==Types of firearms==
Having been around for well over 1500 years there have been many types of firearms over the course of time. Humans are, if anything, very inventive when it comes to coming up with new and interesting ways to kill each other. A rough list are:

===Ye Olde Gonnes===
*Firelance: Oldest of the Oldschool guns, simple bamboo tubes stuffed with gunpowder and pebbles used in the Ten Kingdoms period and the Song Dynasty. One inaccurate spray of flaming fuck-off in close quarters, often tied to a spear.

*Handgonne: A catch-all term for a primitive gun without a lock that need their powder charges. Majority of these guns were handcannons, as in literal man-portable artillery pieces that had a 50/50 chance of either working or malfunctioning, the worst of which would be the gun exploding in the shooter's face.

*Arquebus - A basic matchlock Firearm. A note of clarification: 'Arquebus' and 'musket' are both used to describe firearms from this time and they are often used interchangeably. But if you want to be ''really'' technical in this period an Arquebus is a regular two handed matchlock firearm while a musket is a larger heavier gun firing a larger projectile, sometimes up to an inch in diameter. Latter (about 1700 onward) musket would refer to any muzzleloading long barreled handheld firearm used for mainly shooting solid shots. This is not too much of a big deal and is nothing to get mad about, but it is worth noting.

*Musket - Today, the musket is a catch-all term for all early smoothbore, shoulder-fired, muzzle-loaded firearms. Technically this isn't the case, the musket was an improved Arquebus, one of the earliest muzzle-loaded guns. However because of romanticism and literature; people who aren't acquainted with firearms will commonly refer to any muzzle-loaded long weapon as a musket (about the same reason why most people today refer to any automatic weapon as a machine gun). Muskets were inaccurate as people have yet to put serious research into firearm ballistics, lacked sights, generated a lot of smoke due to primitive gunpowder mixtures, and were temperamental to environmental conditions (rain will pretty much render a musket into an wet stick of wood), but still enjoyed a lot of popularity due to their lethality and ease of use compared to other man-portable ranged weapons at the time - and even their inaccuracy (they were after all, shooting at a bunch of guys standing shoulder-to-shoulder...) may have been more attributable to the generally-poor training given to the vast majority of soldiers of the time. Muskets were quickly phased out once rifles sufficiently improved (they co-existed for multiple decades, with rifles being reserved for light infantry who used their rifles to place accurate shots...at a fraction of the fire-rate of muskets who stayed in the hands of the line infantry, because the light infantry now had to shove the bullet in by the spiraled rifling) to do what a musket could do, but better. Muskets were categorized by what firing mechanism was used in the lock:
:*The earliest versions used matchlocks, which fired by poking a slow-burning fuse into the firing chamber. These were fairly unreliable and somewhat hazardous since you had a smouldering fuse close to the flashpan when you were reloading.
:*The next developed version was the wheel-lock, which used a quick rotation of a wheel against a pyrite to create sparks, making it the first self-igniting firearm. Due to it's price, it didn't replace the matchlock in most cases, only being used by cavalry, elite soldiers and gunpowder guards.
:* Flintlocks replaced matchlocks, which ignited by generating sparks when a piece of flint struck the iron frizzen, igniting the powder in the flashpan. The flint would periodically break and need replacing, but it was still safer than a matchlock.
:**Fusils are early flintlocks (in fact "fusil" derives the Latin "foisil" , meaning a piece of flint), and like any early technology they were more expensive then there later derivatives. Therefore Fusils were given to elite higher trained troops, hence the english/french words 'fusileer' and 'fusillade'. The primary use of Fusils while they distinct from standard infantry weapons (matchlocks) were guarding artillery since unlike matchlocks, flintlocks like the Fusil do not produce so many sparks, a major concern around barrels of gunpowder common around artillery trains!
:** Snaplock uses a flint to strike against a frizzen but is different from the later flintlocks in that the frizzen and pan are separate pieces of the weapon while later flintlocks combine frizzen and the pancover into one, which made the later flintlocks much cheaper. The user also has to manually open the pancover before shooting, which can be a problem in rain. Like the wheel-lock, snaplock didn't manage to replace the matchlock and in fact, in many regards wheel-lock was considered superior despite coming first.
:** Snaphance is similar to a snaplock but it has an additional mechanism which opens the pancover automatically when pulling the trigger, making it a lot less likely that the gunpowder would get wet.
:* With the invention of the percussion cap came the Caplock, or Cap & Ball. This was the final evolution before breachloading became widespread. The cap would be fitted onto a tube to the firing chamber after the musket was loaded. Caplock firearms did not generate sparks in and of themselves; rather, they used a simple hammer to strike the cap, which would in turn ignite the powder in the firing chamber. Far more contained than flintlock, until the fully self-contained cartridge superseded it entirely. After the introduction of cartridges, it was fairly simple to convert existing caplock weapons by replacing the percussion cap tube with a firing pin, and adding a loading gate. Cap & Ball still sees use, even having a few entirely new designs created using the mechanism, due to many countries not considering them or anything prior as "firearms".

*Multi-barreled gun - In the olden days, people wanted more dakka launched at enemies, but things like magazines and self-loading weapons were still an alien idea during its time. So as an alternative people took a breach/muzzle-loaded firearm, slapped one or more barrels onto it, and reworked the trigger so they can fire more shots before needing to reload. This resulted in some particularly wacky times for guns. To this day, the only multi-barrel weapon still commonly used (disregarding military rifles with underslung grenade launchers, door breaching shotguns, or rotating barrel Gatling-style guns) is the double-barreled hunting shotgun. Some notable guns were volley guns called ribauldequin, which were a line of infantry dudes without most of the dudes. The problem was that this took very long to load, because you have one or two people ramming shit rather than 20 dudes each loading. So, that was a colossal fail in a long term artillery exchange, but quite effective for countering a charge when all you need is one volley to make mincemeat out of that cavalry coming at you.

===Modern Firearms===
*Handgun - Also called "pistols", handguns are small-sized firearms that can be comfortably fired in one hand (hence the name). Handguns are mainly used for close defense and as a sidearm, making them akin to daggers. Modern pistol calibers are commonly between 8mm and 11mm, although popular magnum rounds like the .50 GI and .50AE are also exist for handguns (albeit they tend to be large, heavy, and likely to fuck up your wrist from the recoil).
:*Self-loading pistol - Semi-automatic pistols are magazine-fed handguns that use the fired cartridge’s energy to extract and eject the spent cartridge, recock the hammer, and feed a fresh cartridge into the chamber. A concept that took a comparatively long amount of time to get into place, with the first functional semi-automatic pistol being the German Borschardt C93, and the first mass-produced one being the iconic Broomhandle Mauser C96. These had several advantages over revolvers, like having a bigger magazine, being much easier to reload under field conditions, but the most important of which being that they were much easier to maintain. Starting with the Walther PP and the Colt M1911, most nations militaries quickly shifted towards pistols instead of revolvers, with some completely replacing them even before WW2. Revolvers stuck around longer in police service in many countries, but were pushed out of this role as well, making Revolvers only widespread on the civilian gun market, especially for hunters, where the safety and reliability of a Revolver is an advantage over semi-autos that cannot be ignored.
:*Machine pistol - A machine pistol is a handgun that can fire in either bursts or in full-auto. While they're commonly thrown into that category, machine pistols are not submachine guns due to their size and use. Machine-pistols are not in widespread use with traditional military forces as SMGs and PDWs do better damage and have a longer range, but they remain popular with personnel like bodyguards or hitmen, who require a highly portable and concealable but powerful sidearm.
:*Derringer - Another case of the concept being named after its inventor, "derringer" refers to tiny pistols, often used as concealed or backup sidearms, that could fit into the palm of your hand. These things have been around since the 19th century and were single-shot, though could have multiple barrels to fire off more shots before reloading, which were fired in a sequence. Due to their size and intended use (i.e: shooting someone while literally next to them); derringers typically used small rounds like .22 and below. But if you ''really'' wanted someone dead (and your wrists obliterated); some packed larger shots like [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COP_.357_Derringer .357 magnum rounds].
:*Pocket Pistol - Modern versions of the derringer, those are really small handguns or revolvers that sacrifice range and ammo count in order to be as small and easily concealed as possible. Also called "subcompacts". Obviously ideal for bodyguards, spies and VIPs to use as last resorts.
:*Flare Gun - While not exactly a proper firearm per se, due to being used to fire fat and slower moving flares instead of actual bullets, flare guns made from metal (any plastic ones are a risk waiting to cripple your hand) can accept tubular inserts into the breach in order to fire small to medium sized shotgun shells and pistol rounds. Granted, accuracy is going to be mediocre (assuming the inserts themselves have no rifling) and you're going to have to load and remove each bullet case like grandpa's old break action shotgun before you can shoot again. However, it works well as a hidden holdout weapon or a dual-use survival weapon while you're hunting or in the wilderness. The original ammunition, the flares themselves, can also be useful for burning combustible matter as they've been used by soldiers in the past to sabotage equipment to keep out of enemy hands or set fires off from a distance. In some extreme cases, they've been experimentally designed to fire grenades as seen with Nazi Germany's experiments with the Kampfpistole/Sturmpistole or outright used as lethal (albeit improvised) weapons during the Korean War by shooting flares that lodge into some poor Chinese soldier’s coat to burn him to death.

*Revolver - A revolving gun is any weapon that uses a revolving cylinder to load new rounds after every shot. While its commonly now relegated to pistols (a revolver typically meant a revolver pistol these days) the style is still used for some shotguns (like the Armsel Striker) and grenade launchers (like the MM1-Hawk). Historically, revolver rifles were invented in an attempt to create repeater rifles for soldiers as seen with the Colt's New Model Revolving rifle from the 1850's. However, due to lack of of a gas seal, most were notorious for leaking gas that could harm shooters or set off all the chambered rounds in a chain fire if they were pre-brass cartridge designs. However, they did make a small comeback with brass cased ammo and installed blast shields as seen with Taurus/Rossi Circuit Judge carbine or the MTs255 shotgun. Revolvers are still in use for a few reasons: they're simple and cheap to make, can easily be used by left and right-handed shooters (since spent casings aren't automatically ejected like in the case of modern firearms) and is still pretty robust compared to today's modern weapons as fewer mechanisms means fewer points of failure. Downside is that they have very limited ammunition space (because the gun was made around the cylinder you can't expand it like how you can with detachable magazines, so you either had a gun with 5-8 rounds or a bulky gun with a 12-round cylinder) and reload time (even with speedloaders, the time it takes to empty and take apart the gun to load more bullets can be lethal, which the FBI [https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1986_FBI_Miami_shootout learned the hard way]). Thanks to the American old west era and subsequent movies about it, revolver-styled handguns have achieved a kind of rustic yet sleek appeal to them. Revolvers come in generally the same calibers as handguns, from the modest .22 Long Rifle used for practicing and target shooting to the behemoth .500 S&W Magnum which can put down a bear. "Snubnose" revolvers refer to revolvers with shortened barrels in an attempt to make them more compact.
:* Top Break/Tip up - A revolver with a hinged frame that opens to expose the cylinder. These were originally designed for cavalry, as they are very easy to load. However, the two piece frame is a weakness that limits the power of cartridge that can be used. Due to this, these types of revolvers are rarely used today, and are mostly relegated to using low-powered ammo between the .22 and .32 range.
:* Swing Arm - By far the most common type of revolver, the swing arm mounts the cylinder on a moving arm known as a crane, which allows the cylinder to be exposed for loading. The chief limitation of the swing arm design is that the crane can bend over time and due to rough handling, but several tests would indicate you'd have to be deliberately trying to break your gun over a period of time for this to happen (assuming you aren't using a cheap gun made out of low-quality metal). Modern revolver-style grenade launchers are typically swing-arms.
:* Gate Loading - Named for their loading gate, these revolvers can only expose one cylinder for reloading a a time, with the spent casing being pushed out through the gate by a long ejector rod. Gate loading revolvers are the earliest style for cartridge revolvers, dating back to conversions of percussion cap revolvers. Gate loading revolvers are now rare except for reproductions, revolvers designed to big cartridges, and revolver shotguns. The fixed cylinder is the strongest possible configuration of revolver and thus the most tolerant of high power ammunition.

*Submachine gun - A submachine gun (abbreviated to SMG) is a fully automatic weapon that fires pistol cartridges instead of the larger rifle cartridges. One of the first true fully automatic infantry weapons outside of the machine gun, hence the name. The weapon fulfills a similar role of the carbine, striking a balance between firepower, recoil, and bulk. They also make good stealth weapons, as most pistol rounds are subsonic with heavier bullets and thus much quieter when suppressed.

:*Personal Defense Weapon - A PDW is a bit of a mix of a carbine and an SMG, firing specialized cartridges with rifle-like characteristics (usually in the 4-5mm range, shorter than a rifle cartridge but longer than a pistol cartridge) at the cost of additional weight. Its original role is as its name implies; a personal defense weapon for nonfrontline infantry, like artillery spotters, scouts, vehicle crews, commandos, etc. Back in the day PDWs weren't necessarily automatic; a pistol with a longer barrel and mounted stock could be classified as a PDW (This was done with the German C96 and Luger P07), today however these would qualify as "pistol carbines". These days PDWs are commonly lumped into the same category as SMGs, as they now fulfill similar roles.

*[[Shotgun]] - Shotguns are smoothbore weapons (as in the barrel is not rifled) designed to fire either shot (multiple steel or lead pellets) or slugs (a single, heavy projectile), although modern times have included other types of ammunition. The ability to fire multiple types of ammunition without modification is one of the main advantages to using a shotgun; converting an anti-infantry weapon into a door-breaching tool, a mini-flamethrower, or a less-lethal weapon with but a switch of the munitions. The vast majority of shotguns are pump-action or breech-loading, though as of 1905 shotguns can come in semi-automatic or fully-automatic configurations, but sheer variety of shell loads makes their reliability highly ammo dependent. For more information see the [[shotgun]] page. The most common bore size for shotguns is 12 gauge (about 18.5mm). Confusingly, higher gauges are lower in size because its based on weight of spheres of lead rather than diameter; a 20 gauge is about 15.6mm, while a 10 gauge is 19.7mm (.410 bore exists outside this and is .410 inch/10.4 mm/67 bore).

*Rifle - Rifles were originally shoulder-fired weapons that had their barrels "rifled" to increase precision, by putting spiral grooves into the barrel in order to have the bullet spin before leaving the barrel; reducing it's wind resistance (otherwise known as drag) and giving it more momentum as it leaves that muzzle. In ye olden days, these were specialist weapons given to marksmen while the common soldier carried a musket. However, because all modern non-shotgun non-explosive firearms now use rifling to improve ballistics, the term is usually reserved for a shoulder-fired long weapon, designed for accurate fire.
:*Assault Rifle - Assault rifles are a term given to any rifle that can be fired on full-auto and shoot intermediate-caliber rounds, typically in the 5mm range (or a shortened 7mm round if you're from the Eastern bloc). This is usually the standard weapon of a non-specialized front-line infantryman. The STG44 is considered to be the earliest one fielded in industrial quantity, though the idea has been around since at least the first World War. Traditionally, the term "Assault Rifle" is rarely ever used by servicemen to refer to this type of weapon, and typically call them "Automatic Rifles" or "Service Rifles" instead.
:*Battle Rifle - Basically the assault rifle's big brother; battle rifles are bigger automatic rifles designed to fire high-caliber rounds, typically in the 7mm range. These were the mainstay for armies in the 1950s, but the US eventually found out that giving infantry rifles with smaller rounds is better since its lighter and can allow infantry to be more accurately engage enemies better due to lower recoil (albeit at the cost of power), so battle rifles were replaced by assault rifles for front-line use and battle rifles were relegated to specialists like marksmen or support gunners (who's job permits for a slower-firing but more powerful weapon). The M1918 BAR may count as one, though the first occurred no latter than 1942's FG42. Some armies still prefer to use full battle rifles alongside assault rifles, notably the Turkish MPT-76 in 7.62 NATO was made after soldiers expressed lack of satisfaction with 5.56 MPT-55's, though no army only has battle rifles unless it's third world with nothing else around.
:*Carbine - A carbine is a compact rifle, primarily designed to be used in close quarters. In most cases, carbines are based from a parent rifle, and are scaled down by using lighter/smaller parts and shortening the barrel (such as in the case of the American M16 vs M4) or is its own weapon (like the Korean K1A). These are typically given to units who need to engage the enemy at close range and need a rifle for the job, like commandos, assault teams, or other specialist units, or given to units who are not expected to fight on the front but need a compact but decent weapon to defend themselves if the need arises, like pilots or vehicle crews. Carbine may also refer to pistol-caliber semi-automatic weapons that are longer than a pistol, but this is typically only used in the civilian market. The concept of a carbine predates modern firearms, though they existed primarily for cavalry.
:*Micro Assault Rifle - Even smaller than carbines; these are ultracompact rifles designed when someone needs a highly portable but powerful weapon. A MAR is basically a PDW that shoots actual rifle rounds. Much like carbines; a MAR can either be based on a parent rifle and scaled down or made as its own weapon. These tend to have low effectiveness for standard calibers, since those were designed for full length barrels, but the logistics of supply are superior.
:*Sniper Rifle - A sniper rifle is a special precision rifle, specifically designed to engage targets at extreme range with lethal efficiency. Many sniper rifles use standard 7.62mm rounds, but high-performance rifles will use more potent rounds up to 12.7mm rounds for extra range and stopping power. Preferably, sniper rifles should use match-grade ammunition to provide consistency and accuracy at high extended ranges. The vast majority are bolt-action for simplicity and power (much more reliable and because all the gasses are diverted into the barrel, rather than some being diverted to work the action; the gun can launch the bullet farther and faster), but there are also a decent number of semi-automatic ones. Sniper rifles are given to special marksmen called "snipers", who are capable of engaging the enemy from extreme distances, usually well away from the scrap.
:*Designated Marksman Rifle - A sort of compromise between battle rifles and sniper rifles, DMRs are precision weapons meant to be used by frontline infantry to accurately engage distant targets that regular infantry weapons cannot. Due to its role, it's generally more accurate than a rifleman's gun, but usually not as effective as an actual sniper's gun (DMRs are usually only effective within 1 kilometer, while SRs are typically effective beyond 1 kilometer). Generally speaking, DMRs avoid using the more high-performance rounds that snipers may use, as it may be detrimental for an infantryman's role.
:*Recoiless - Not a conventional gun in most senses; a recoilless gun (models with rifling are called "Recoiless rifles" though people often miss this distinction) is as the title suggest, a rifled weapon without (or at least reduced) recoil. It does this by basically being a cannon with the back taken off. When loaded the cartridge sits in an open back tube, there is no breach. When fired, the explosion propels the shell out the tube, but an equal amount of gas comes out the other side canceling out the recoil. This means that total muzzle velocity is lower than a cannon with a breech on it, but they make up for it by shooting bigger shells, and with HEAT shells (thanks to the nature of the Munroe effect) the wider the diameter of the shell the more effective it is, meaning even a large slow moving projectile can do a great amount of damage to tanks. Larger, towed versions are often mistaken for field artillery or antitank cannons. Meanwhile shoulder fired versions are often mistaken for their rocket launcher cousins like the bazooka or the RPG; while both rocket launchers and infantry portable recoilless rifles lob antitank munitions at tanks, the recoilless rifle round are not self-propelled by rocket motors and rely on just momentum from the launcher to fly.
:*Anti-Tank/Materiel Rifle - Essentially modern elephant guns; these rifles are geared towards destroying tanks and hard objects, although they are very much still capable of demolishing infantry (albeit overkill since rifles of this type tend to outright cause body parts to explode by the sheer amount of force they carry.). Anti-tank rifles were the norm for years (From the 1910s to the late 1970s) as they were a cheap yet effective way of getting rid of tanks, but advancements in vehicle armor has largely rendered AT rifles obsolete (at least for anti-tank roles, these things can still royally murder lightly-armored vehicles and urban housing, thus why they can be seen in use today). Anti-materiel rifles however, are a bit of an offshoot of AT rifles, and are still in use today. They are often used to take out lighter vehicles, to detonate ordnance at a safe distance or fuck up anything valuable to the other side like radars, communication devices, heavy weapons, etc... They have been successfully used against light boats and even to down the occasional helicopter. Likewise, they have been used by both professional and paramilitary forces due in thanks to their ability to annihilate cover (and hopefully what's behind it) where most conventional small arms won't. Usually chambered in heavy machine gun caliber around 12mm to 15mm barring some attempts at making man-portable 20mm caliber guns interwar to early WW2 though those didn't pan out.
:*Stopping Rifle- A rifle that fires a ludicrously heavy bullet, usually as a single shot but rarely as a bolt action. As the name implies, these were developed to bring down stop big game. like elephants, that were charging at you but eventually became the precursors to anti-material rifles. Unlike the later, range or penetration aren't big concerns so much as delivering a massive amount of energy to a soft-skinned target. While hunting elephants may be illegal today, a large caliber weapon is still useful for defense against large predators like bears or lions, who would shrug off a smaller 5.56mm or 7.62mm to the body. Firing such a heavy weapon while standing or even sitting isn't a pleasant experience; without the right stance, it'll go flying once you pull the trigger.
:*Everything else - Except sniper rifles and most Designated Marksman Rifles, all of the above rifles are generally "military-grade" and thus are generally not available to the public (unless you are in '''The Great United States Of America'''*, *NFA restrictions apply). Any other type of rifle will typically be called a "sporting rifle" or "hunting rifle", etc and are either bolt-action or semi-automatic. Technically speaking, most "military-grade" firearms can be modified to become semi-automatic to allow for use within the public.

*Machine Gun - Colloquially a machine gun is a large automatic weapon (though technically anything fully-automatic, ranging from a machine pistol all the way up to auto-cannons), typically fed from a magazine or a belt (or both, as is the case with the M249) and meant to either be man-portable or fired from an emplacement or mount like a tripod or turret. The main difference between MGs and the rest of the automatic weapon family is that an MG is a gun meant to fire with longer continuous bursts as a support weapon; meaning that the machine gunner applies continuous suppression fire at the enemy to keep them down (and occasionally kill those stupid enough to not get the message), while the rest of the squad maneuver. Machine guns are generally heavier, not only because of the volume of ammo they carry; but their parts (such as the barrel) are made of heavier materials so that the gun can withstand the punishing amounts of bullets it puts downrange (firing hundreds of rounds without pause can cause guns to overheat and malfunction, even catch fire or explode in the worst of scenarios, unless they're built for such a task.) Even then, barrel changes occur frequently to change warped and damaged barrels.
:*Light Machine Gun - an LMG is a man-portable MG that fires the same intermediate rounds as assault rifles. They are intended to be almost as portable as a rifle (as in, they can be shouldered, but get better performance with a bipod) and allow machine gunners to provide suppressing fire at the squad level. Some LMGs are magazine-fed rifles with heavier barrels and modified bolts to allow them to withstand the heat buildup of sustained fire (such as the RPK), or else are scaled-down MMGs (such as the M249 SAW).
:*Medium Machine Gun - an MMG is a man-portable MG that fires the same full-power rounds as battle rifles. These tend to push the limit of what's practical for a man-portable weapon, and when deployed are usually fired from a stationary position either on a bipod or tripod due to the recoil they generate. These weapons usually overlap with General Purpose Machine Guns and tend to be deployed at the company level or as a vehicle weapon.
:*Heavy Machine Gun (classic) - The definition of an HMG has changed a bit over the last 100 years so the catagory has been split up into two categories. The classical heavy machine gun is exclusively meant to be fired from emplacements and mounts like a tripod due to their large size and weight and was designed to be fired from a fixed position: constantly, just spitting out bullets for days. Often done with the aid of a water jacket which further increased the weight of the weapon. These are the guns that created the quagmire of the great war. Their heavy weight made them impossible for an infantryman to fire on the move (regardless of what you hear; even Hollywood couldn't make these monsters man-portable in their movies, and those fire low-powered blank rounds and is being held by the like of [[Sly Marbo|Sylvester Stallone]]). But that weight also greatly limited their maneuverability and forced them to stay in a static defensive position. Usage outside of vehicle mounts died off when artillery became more precise and could easily wipe out immobile emplacements. Unlike modern heavy machine guns, classical ones used a standard sized rifle cartridge, the vickers for example used the .303 bullet same as the standard rifle of the day, what made them 'heavy' was the focus on sustained shooting to throw back waves of attacking infantry. Examples include the Maxim gun, Hotchkiss Mle 1914 and the Vickers.
:*Heavy Machine Gun (Modern): a modern heavy machine gun is not designed to fire constantly, but to fire a big bullet. Only slightly too small to qualify for the definition of 'cannon' are weapons like the M2 browning .50 caliber, or 12.7 mm machine gun. Modern HMG's are powerful enough to penetrate light armor and damage fragile equipment on heavy armor (like scopes), making them formidable weapons. Examples of modern HMG's are the Russian DHSK and the American M2 Browning.
:*General Purpose Machine Gun - Essentially a machine gun that can perform multiple roles of the previous stated. Examples of this are the German MG34 (arguably the first of this concept) and MG42/MG3, or (from an American prospective) the American M60 and M240, which can reliably serve both infantry-level support weapon and mounted gun roles by fitting them with the appropriate parts. The first ones used the general rifle cartridge, while modern examples are in 7.62x51 NATO or its equivalents.
::*Squad Automatic Weapon - An attempt to make a GPMG that use the intermediate cartridges everyone else in the squad used. Despite the weaknesses of intermediate cartridges (limited range, low barrier penetration/destruction) being more noticeable in a machinegun role, they is still commonly used by virtue of their reduced logistical requirements and lighter weight compared to other man-portable LMG variants. The RPD, RPK and M249/SAW/MINIMI family are the main entries here, though it seems every modern assault rifle has tried to make a SAW variant with varying degrees of success.
:::*Infantry Automatic Rifle - A more recent concept that seeks to combine the continuous firing properties of a machine gun with an assault rifle's accuracy and ease of use. So far only attempted seriously by the US Marine Corp with the M27; while the higher-ups are pleased with it so far, there is considerable debate about whether its lower rate of fire compared to the M249 will make it less effective at providing suppressing fire.
:*Rotary Machine Gun - Originally known as the "Gatling gun", man's first known attempt to have enough [[dakka]]; a rotary machine gun is an automatic weapon that uses revolving barrels that interchange every time the gun fires off a round. The kicker to this is that it allows the gun to shoot with little threat of the barrels wearing out as they interchange between shots; giving them a small window to cool off before firing again. The end result is a gun capable of firing over 3,000 rounds per minute without fail, or in a smaller scope; 50 rounds per second. Modern rotary guns are electrically powered to allow them to reach such insane speeds, and are given ammo drums that contain thousands of rounds to be able to sustain that amount of bullets being fired; so they're confined to static emplacements and vehicles (unlike what the media constantly portrays; these things are not even close to being man-portable without assistance from powered armor.) These types of guns are used almost exclusively on aircraft. anti-aircraft emplacements, or even anti missile turrets as they're the only non-missile weapon that can reliably hit fast-moving aircraft. But a rotary gun that fires 30mm rounds is powerful enough to tear tanks in two, as well (metaphorically, they only have to penetrate top armor and rate of fire helps). Unlike what the movies would tell you a rotary machine gun does not need a long spinup time to get to full speed: when the trigger is pulled the gun starts to spin and fire immediately.
:*Chain gun - A chain gun is a machine gun that is fed using an electric motor. Instead of relying on the gasses from the bullet to work the action to cycle a new round; a machine automatically ejects and loads a new round in after firing a shot. Chain guns have the benefit of never jamming due to feeding failures, as even if the round is not discharged; the machine pops it out and loads a new one regardless. However, it is also not man-portable as it requires an electric motor to function, so it is only found on fixed emplacements or vehicles. Can easily fuck up any poor shmucks day by perforating the boat or car they are in. People sometimes use the words "chain gun" and "rotary machine gun" interchangeably (thanks, Doom), but chain guns are typically single-barreled, as they don't need the high rate of fire that rotary guns do outside of anti-air guns. If you see an actual rotary barrel chain gun, it's probably a CIWS like the Phalanx or the Kashtan, and while primarily designed for air defense (mostly helicopters and ground attackers who get too cocky) and to shoot down incoming shells and missiles, they can most assuredly put holes in boats and vehicles.

===Actions===
"Action" refers to how ammunition is loaded into the weapon.

*Single-shot: The first and oldest of all; a single-shot weapon is when users manually load rounds into the chamber. This can be anything from loading a new round, cocking the weapon every shot, or pumping the action.
**Muzzle-loaded: The earliest form of how weapons were loaded. This meant you had to load a new round directly into the muzzle, which is where the bullets come out. In its earliest form; muzzle-loaded guns were complicated to arm; you had to fuck around with a wad, powder, and slug. In the heat of battle, you had to ram these down the barrel of your gun in the correct order, light the wick, then aim before the gun goes off. And you had to do all this while standing in the open within firing range of your enemy. Still in use because many jurisdictions have a muzzle loading only season and such obsolete arms are subject to fewer legal restrictions in general.
**Breach-loaded; An upgrade over muzzle-loading and developed shortly after cartridges were invented; breach loaders are where the back of the barrel can be opened so that you can load a new round into it. Many muzzle loaders were converted to breech loaders in workshops near the end of the Industrial Revolution. It is still a popular setup for multi-barreled shotguns. Certain revolvers are breach-loaded as well, but given the size and design of the revolver, this gives them a notable weak point at the top of the weapon where the parts connect together. Most come in flavors such as break action (popular with simple shotguns and flare pistols), trapdoor mechanisms, rolling blocks, falling blocks (attached to levers), or bolt action.
**Bolt-action: This type of action is where you pull the charging handle of a weapon, every time you shoot so that a new round can be chambered. They come in two varieties: faster but weaker locking straight-pull bolts and slower but stronger rotating bolt actions. Originally starting off as single shot rifles, they eventually added magazines to reduce the amount of loading required once smokeless powder was used. These were pretty popular in WW1 and continues to be used today for precision rifles and discount anti-material rifles due to their simplicity and strength.
***Needle Rifle: An early precursor to the bolt action from the 1840's with the Dreyse and Chassepot rifles. Unlike its grandchild in WWI, these used self-contained paper cartridges where the primer is on the tail end of the projectile and the gunpowder is sandwiched between the primer and the rest of the paper cartridge. To ignite the gunpowder, the bolt's firing pin actually needs to puncture the cartridge from the back with a needle and hit the primer. While faster to fire at six to fifteen rounds per minute compared to a regular muzzleloader, their needles warped after repeating shooting and had to be replaced. And in the case of the Chassepot, their rubber seals in the breech would deteriorate and require swapping. Once metal cartridges were invented a decade later, the needle rifles were replaced with fully fledged bolt action rifles as we know them.
**Lever-action: The cool kid of the single-action club; lever-action weapons are those where you have to use a lever to chamber a new round, which was usually mounted near the trigger. Great for shooting from horseback, not so great lying on the ground. This type was made popular by Winchester during the frontier age of the Wild West and even more by Arnold Schwarzenegger when he used a lever-action shotgun during Terminator 2. Tend to be chambered for pistol cartridges and intermediate rifle cartridges because its metalurgy and action weren't strong enough for full rifle cartridges till the 1890s, when bolt actions had started displacing it, and tube magazines requiring flat nosed rimed cartridges while market forces limit them to cartridges that are still made (a crossover that's essentially just .22lr, revolver cartridges, .30-30 and .45-70).
**Pump-action: A pump action is where you had to pull the "pump" of the weapon to cycle a new round. This is the most common action used by shotguns. A few rifles used this setup as well (but only with round bullet heads as pointed bullets have the risk of setting off the primers), and there is one instance of a bunch of madmen creating a pump-action 3+1 (three in the tube, one in the chamber) 40mm grenade launcher.
*Automatic action/Self-loading: Unlike single-shot weapons, it uses gasses expelled by the cartridge or recoil to power a mechanism that automatically chambers a new round after each shot. Generally speaking, the semi-automatic to fully-automatic action is determined by the trigger sear, which may either inhibit the hammer from hitting against until the trigger is let go (semi-automatic), stops firing after a certain number of rounds have been fired (burst-fire), or continuously fires until ammo is expended (fully automatic).
**Semi-automatic: A semi-automatic weapon is any weapon that can fire after every trigger pull, with the user only needing to work the action after reloading a completely empty gun. Most handguns and many rifles are semi-automatic.
**Burst-Fire: A setting sometimes included on automatic weapons, each trigger pull fires several rounds before stopping automatically. Fully automatic fire in a handheld gun tends to very quickly go off target due to muzzle rise, but by limiting fire to a controlled burst, the gun is easier to keep trained on target. The main purpose for this setting is to defeat personal body armor; many types of armor such as ceramic inserts are only designed to reliably stop one rifle bullet, not a close grouping of several hits in succession.
**Fully-automatic: A fully-automatic weapon is any weapon that can fire automatically, so long as the trigger is depressed, rather than pulled each time like how semi-autos work. Automatic weapons tend to be banned for civilian use outside of firing ranges and are only available to military even in countries liberal with gun rights.

===Ammo Storage and Feeding===
This refers to how ammunition is given to the weapon. Also the topic of a /k/ommando's greatest sources of rage; the clip vs magazine misconception. This section will give a short explanation for both.

*Pepperbox - basically the bastard child of a break-action long gun and a revolver; a pepperbox gun has 3 or more barrels loaded and ready to fire, with the gun rotating between the loaded barrels to fire in relatively quick sucession. As this was one of the only ways to get more than a single shot in less than a minute without resorting to carrying multiple guns; the design was wacky but popular during the olden ages (and still today to a limited extent for some pocket pistols). The Empire's Outriders are armed with these weapons if you want a visual of what they looked like. Most pepperboxes where smoothbore since they were made on the cheap and never intended for more than point blank fire.

*Harmonica - Also called a ''slide gun,'' it was a precursor to the detachable magazine, it was basically a reusable steel block with multiple holes drilled into the sides to house preloaded powder and shot alongside percussion caps. While loaded from the side near the hammer on adapted breechloading firearms and manually reset between shots, it still did not solve the problem of gas leakage that plagued early non-muzzleloaders until the invention of brass bullet cartridges.

*Volleygun - A variant of the olden multi-barrel family, the volleygun foregoes single, accurate shots in favor of alpha-striking to saturate the area in lead, having anywhere between 2 to 20 barrels (and you can go well beyond this if your contraption can handle it) and the size ranging anywhere from a pistol to a full-sized artillery piece. As the name describes; it fires all of it's payload in a single volley, basically making it a one-man firing line. This style of weaponry gradually fell out of disuse as more modern firearms were developed (mainly self-loading weapons, which were more reliable and accurate), but is notably still used for the "Metal Storm", a prototype weapon with truly absurd number of gun barrels that go off simultaneously to shred the ever-living fuck out of it's target. The only types still in use today are double barreled shotguns and derringers.

*Superposed load - the disadvantage to using a multi-barreled firearm is that it adds a lot of weight to the firearm. One alternative was to simply stack multiple bullets and charges into the same barrel, and then have the firearm set them off sequentially. The early version of this mechanism was prone to failures, as the bullets were not self-contained and a poor gas seal could result in multiple charges going off, destroying the gun (and the user if unlucky enough) if it was not designed to handle the stress. The King of England was once gifted several such guns and after one exploded killing the guard firing it the whole affair was deemed a very creative attempt at assassination. However, this setup was revived with the invention of caseless bullets and electronic triggers used most prominently in Metal Storm weapons. If combined with multiple barrels, a metal storm weapon can have a bewildering rate of fire. So far the technology is mostly used in multi-shot grenade launchers.

*Bullpup - A bullpup is any weapon where its action is located in the behind the trigger, instead of in front. Bullpups have the advantage of being more compact, whilst still retaining the same ballistic properties of a full-sized weapon as it can use the same barrel length, but the weapon's profile is shorter thanks to the design. However, some of the disadvantages are it not being readily ambidextrous (being that the shell ejection port is directly beside the shooter's face, you cannot switch to a left-hand grip so easily if the situation calls for it. Some bullpups can have ambidextrous controls, but implementing them typically requires tools and is not something you can swap during a fight). One of the more technical problems is weight distribution. Unlike traditional firearms where the weight is typically in the center, allowing both left and right arms to distribute the weight of the gun: most of the bullpup's weight is in the back, so most of the work is being lumped onto the dominant hand, which can cause fatigue faster. The other is poor trigger pull due to the distance from trigger to action, though there are aftermarket kits for many that can mitigate it a good deal. Modern pistols and many SMGs that feed from inside the grip are ''technically'' bullpups, since their magazine and action are behind the trigger and connected by a transfer bar, but they generally aren't counted as such. Despite their on-paper advantages, bullpups have been a hard sell on account of most of their early offerings being either hideously expensive, or finicky garbage, or inciting visceral digust just looking at it, or just straight up not-American enough to make it out of subcommittee at the Pentagon. Their lack of reach with a bayonet is a hindrance (even with modern firearms, room-to-room combat and POW control still use bayonets) while their difficulty with being modular or customizable makes each model a one-trick pony.

*Clip - A clip is a device, used for bundling bullets together for immediate use. Guns cannot use clips by themselves, they have to be loaded into a magazine first to be used by a gun. The most common version were "stripper clips": each clip held about five bullets, and to load the rifle you placed the clip on top of the magazine, then squeezed the bullets off the clip into the magazine. Another type, en bloc, was used by the M1 Garand and held eight bullets in a 2x4 configuration. The entire clip was put in the magazine, with the clip being ejected after being emptied. The last kind is the moon (or half-moon) clip, used specifically for revolvers, which holds bullets in a circular formation for loading the chamber up in one go. Clips are still used today, but exclusively to speed up loading external magazines. Filling external magazines generally requires a small disposable tool, which is included in any ammo lot packaged on stripper clips.

*Speedloader - A speedloader is essentially a clip that has moving parts, usually to aid with holding and/or loading ammunition. Two common types exist. The first is similar to a moon clip in that it holds bullets so that they can all be loaded into a revolver simultaneously, but use a locking mechanism to secure the bullets while they are being carried, then release them once they are loaded into the cylinder. While not as fast as a moon clip, it still makes loading revolvers considerably faster. Another type of speedloader is the magazine loader, which is designed to reduce the spring pressure in a magazine, making it faster and easier to load.

*Magazine - The magazine is part of the weapon that houses and feeds actual ammo into the weapon. In the olden days, many guns had magazines that were built into the weapon itself and were fed using clips of ammo that were loaded after the gun ran out. Built-in magazines, however, severely limited the potential ammunition capacity of guns as they cannot be expanded without significantly making the gun larger and was a pain in the ass to reload (such as in the case of revolvers). To counter this; people designed guns whose magazines were detachable from the gun itself. This allowed people to easily expand the ammo cap of a gun, as they only needed to ensure that the extended magazine will fit into their gun and cycle properly, they no longer needed to re-work the entire structure of the gun to enlarge a built-in magazine. It also greatly increased a person's reload speed, as instead of fumbling around with several clips to ram down the gun: they just had to detach a magazine, pull one out of their vest/bag, load it in (charge the gun if needed), and they're good to go. High-capacity magazines tend to take on weird shapes rather than the standard flat box; the most common variant is the drum magazine, but there are also double drums, caskets, and helicals. Typically the weakest part of any firearm. A large part of the misconceptions of the M16 were related to the fucktarded idea that it should be issued with DISPOSABLE MAGAZINES! They were initially not intended for repeated use, empty the mag. Drop it, crush it under your boot, reload a brand new never used mag. Worked well till some bureaucrat ordered reusing them which alongside some other bureaucrats skipping the chrome lining for the barrel and issuing really shitty ammo made with spare parts caused regular failures. Newer iterations of the magazine have since addressed these issues.

*Belts - The belt is what it is; a long belt filled with bullets, which can either take the form of a cloth belt or linked by metallic chains. Belts are the common loading method of most machine guns, who typically have ammunition capacities well beyond 100 rounds. The reason for this is that it simplifies the operation of the gun (since belts do not require them to be fed to the gun with a mechanism like in traditional magazines) and makes them less prone to malfunctions (with a gun designed to shoot continuously; you wanna make sure that there's less critical moving parts to fuck up as it's firing it's 300th round at the enemy). Belts are also much easier to transport, as the belt can be folded several times to make it more compact, versus a solid magazine. This is mostly because until H&K put out their steel high reliability 5.56 nato mag, most magazines couldn't keep up with the fire rate and were too flimsy(The Soviet counterparts that used magazines, used AK pattern magazines which you can open a beer with and then load into the gun). Pretty much every man issued a M249 with the magwell adapter, will attest to how dire you must be for bullets in the air to use it but it's better then nothing when the belt is out and your buddies can toss you a couple mags rather than sitting on your thumb waiting for someone to drop their gun.

==Ammunition themselves==
To call a round or cartridge "a bullet" would be the equivalent of calling of calling a magazine a clip. Bullets are the projectiles that are or to be launched, while the "round" is the entire thing. To do otherwise would summon the wrath of the /k/ommando.

===Composition of the modern round/cartridge===

*Casing - The metal jacket that houses the propellant, primer, and to an extent the bullet (pardoning telescopic munitions which house the bullet completely.) Usually made from brass, they can be made from steel or plastics (at the detriment of the gun itself, unless designed for such).

*Propellant - Powder that is used to propel the bullet/slug/projectile. In the good ol' days, it used black powder (which was made from charcoal, sulphur, and saltpeter - either potassium nitrate or sodium nitrate), but those clouded the air with black smoke, left soot in the gun, were corrosive, and weren't powerful. Most modern rounds use a double base powder (generally guncotton/nitrocellulose, both dry and in a dissolved form called collodion, and nitroglycerin), may include a variety of stabilizers (to improve shelf life of the round) and deterrents (to prevent the cartridge from being too "hot" and prematurely combusting or shattering the barrel from overpressure). Historically, the British formed their propellant as stiff string called Cordite stuffed into cartridges before the mainstream use of small grains took over. For artillery, they make good use of triple base propellants, which is smokey as hell but burn well with no corrosive fouling.

*Primer - What activates the powder in the rounds themselves. They're percussion caps filled with sensitive explosive compounds (like fulminates, perchlorates, styphnates, tetrazenes,or azides) that ignite upon being hit. Generally a firm dent is enough to activate the munitions. Modern commercial ammo generally use non-corrosive compression sensitive materials, though many governments kept using corrosive primers well into the Cold War.

*Bullets - What people get tripped up on in naming munitions. Being the projectile, anyone loading the munitions has a vast choice of what can be used as a bullet. Generally, lead, steel, and tungsten make the core of the round (thanks to their weight) while the outer coat for the round could be lead (since it is also very malleable), copper, and nickel, though Teflon and certain plastics can also be used. If you're feeling lucky, you can load a variety of other materials into the rounds (or shells for shotguns). Take for example salt, which doesn't kill, but you can mark people and they sting like hell. Alternatively, if you're riot police trying to suppress a crowd without killing them, you'd use bullets or shotgun shells loaded with rubber, foam, wax, plastic, bean bag rounds, or tear gas with reduced propellant. If it hits you in the head or in an unlucky spot, you might die from blunt force trauma but it's less lethal than an actual bullet.

===Types of bullets===
As a short note on bullets, its important to know that just because a bullet can easily penetrate armor doesn't mean its a definite upgrade over everything else. If a hard bullet like the FMJ or AP penetrates the human body and exits in the same shot; its gonna hurt like hell but unless that bullet was in the 12.7mm (.50 caliber) category or it hit something important like a lung or the head; the target has a good possibility to survive through a combination of medical aid, hormones (adrenaline in fight or flight), and willpower (with the side possibility of stimulants), and even still continue to fight onwards if they're that [[Ork|dead 'ard]]. That said, if a 12.7mm round came tearing through your body; it has enough momentum to potentially rupture a good chunk of your insides which is ''very'' lethal, but 12.7mm guns are generally not mainstay (these are guns like the Desert Eagle, M2 Browning, or M82 Barrett), so unless you're a real-life action hero, a turret gunner, or a counter-sniper; its unlikely for you to have access to these behemoths.

Likewise, if a soft bullet like the JHP or SP penetrates the body, then which expands, fragments, and/or tumbles inside; in short internal and external bleeding would be the most urgent of the target's concerns, with ruptured organs and torn muscles leaking like a broken sewage pipe, thus making HP lot more lethal and debilitating. That said, soft bullets fragment easily and body armor proportionate to it's caliber can reliably stop soft round. That said even if armored; the target is still gonna feel the impact of the bullet's force hitting against his body, and that still has the potential of killing someone if the circumstances are right (although its still unreliable).

In the end, a bullet is either specialized where it's only effective against either armored or unarmored targets, or a special combination that renders it effective against both types (although these require an experienced smith to manufacture properly).

*Ball - though if we start talking bullets we need to start with the first bullet: the lead ball, from where we derive the common term for bullets as 'rounds'. It's. . .just a lead ball though, not much to say about it. The balls were hand made, often by soldiers themselves since lead has such a low melting point, with the molds often being unique to each gun. This used largely the same process that was used for [[Sling]] bullets since antiquity. These early bullets would be smaller then the barrel and so would often 'rattle' down the barrel due to the ill fitting, which combined with a lack of riffling would mean early guns were horribly inaccurate. If one used a larger bullet that better fitted the gun, one could use rifling, but this required, (see above) hammering the bullet into place to make sure that there were no gaps.

*Minié ball- The first bullet we would know as a 'bullet', and the first truly distinct from a lead ball. A Minié ball is a conical bullet with a concave hole in the base. When fired the base flared out from the pressure of the blast, letting it engage with the rifling of the gun. This meant that it formed a seal with the barrel making it incredibly accurate, while not needing to be tightly hammered down the barrel. The best of both worlds. Combined with it's large size these things were lethal on the battle field maiming and crippling an entire generation of soldiers during the US civil war.

*Full Metal Jacket (FMJ)- Generally a lead or steel bullet encased in a soft metal such as copper. Acts a sort of lube as well as preventing fouling of the barrel. Depending on design, has a potential to fragment post impact, shredding internal organs.
**Synthetic Jacket- FMJ ammo with a plastic jacket, which has the advantage of reducing cleaning requirements and safer when hitting steel at the cost of various things not really relevant in practice ammo. Currently only in handgun calibers and only made as practice/match ammo (though some hollow points and AP rounds do also use polymer jackets).

*Hollow point (HP)- The hollow section in the center makes the bullet expand on impact, creating a bigger hole in its victim at the expense of being less effective against armored targets. That being said, the decreased penetration also makes it safer to use in situations where over-penetration could be dangerous (e.g. on an aircraft). Certain designs have bladed tips on expansion, causing additional cutting and bleeding too. It was banned from military use by the Hague Convention of 1899, so restricted to police, civilians, and, as of 2017, the United States Armed Forces (The US didn't sign that provision, but previously stuck with FMJ even after mass production became feasible for the sake of NATO compatibility).

*Semi jacketed Hollow point (SJHP)- Same as a hollow point, but has a copper jacket to help reduce fouling.

*Jacketed Hollow Point (JHP)- Same as above, but fully covers the bullet down to the tip.

*Wad cutter (WC)- Flat tipped bullet. Not very aerodynamic but it leaves a big hole to help tell you where you hit the target. Generally for closer range paper targets as they lose velocity very quickly due to the drag on them.

*Semi Wad Cutter (SWC)- Like the wad cutter, but more aerodynamic.

*Armor Piercing (AP)- As name implies, intended to penetrate armor, be it person or equipment. However, this ultimately depends on what gun you're shooting from and what armor you're shooting at. A 9x19mm AP steel round coming from a 4" barrel will do diddly to NIJ Level IIIA, where as a 7.62x51 AP flying out of a 24" barrel will punch through it easy as you please. Modern AP rounds are often jacketed in plastic, but this is purely to protect the barrel (turns out sending something meant to destroy steel through a steel barrel results in a wrecked barrel) and adds no armor piercing quality.

*Saboted light armor penetrator (SLAP)/Saboted bullets- Think of the discarding sabots fired from a M1 Abrams or a saboted slug of a shotgun, but redesigned to be fired like a standard rifle round. The sabot is designed to the grip the rifling until it leaves the barrel, then discard after leaving the barrel. This would leave the penetrator or bullet with a high velocity while providing a sufficient spin to the bullet to keep it stabilized in the air. With a higher density and/or thinner bullet, they can potentially penetrate better than potentially even APHE. Likewise for handcrafted bullets, they provide higher velocity for a smaller bullet in a cartridge intended for a larger caliber. G

*High Explosive incendiary (HEI)- Explosive tipped munition. Generally for larger rounds (think 7.62 and beyond), they typically are meant for non-infantry targets such as light vehicles, light aircraft, and barriers, showering those inside with speeding shrapnel. Despite their implication, they might not work as well as one might think against hard target.

*Armor Piercing Incendiary (API)/Armor Piercing High Explosive (APHE), High Explosive Incendiary Armor Penetration (HEIAP)- Designed with the intentions of penetrating hard targets that HE rounds can't do alone and being anti-material in general, API and HEIAP are the answer to those targets. Generally have sufficient power in and behind the bullet (think Raufoss Mk.211), it will penetrate body armor and light vehicles with awe-inspiring ease.

*Soft point or semi jacketed - Like a FMJ, except the tip is exposed. Designed to have the reduced drag of a FMJ, while expanding upon hitting a target similar to a hollow point. Generally designed for hunters in mind.

*Ballistic tip - Similar in performance to the semi-jacketed bullet, but rather than being a solid core of lead it is designed like a hollow point, but with a plastic tip at the end to reduce drag and ensure expansion.

*Ratshot - made for smaller-caliber guns and is basically birdshot for rifled barrels. The tip is a plastic cap that contains a small amount pellets, typically within the 1.5mm range. As the name implies; the gun is primarily designed for shooting pests and small animals like rodents and grass snakes. You can use it to shoot at larger pests like coyotes or humans, but it's woefully underpowdered for the job.

*Matchgrade - ammo designed primarily for shooting competitions and/or extreme feats of marksmanship. Very expensive compared to popular alternatives and impractical for common use, but you get what you pay for: a cartridge produced with the finest minds R&D could muster, subjected to much more rigorous batch testing and quality control, and guaranteed to shoot a bullet as far and accurately as physics would allow. Rounds alone do not make an accurate firearm however, so the gun it's chambered in has to be well-maintained and designed for precise shooting in mind.

*Tracer - a regular bullet coated in pyrotechnic coating that ignites when fired. These are most commonly used with machineguns (every fifth round in a belt, to be exact) since it's useful for the gunner to accurately see where all his bullets are going, as well as make it clear to any enemies he's suppressing just who he's aiming at. Similarly rifle magazines are often loaded with tracers at certain intervals to provide indication of remaining ammo. Of course, the caveat is "tracer's work both ways" as they can give away your position; this can be mitigated by using "dim" tracers that can only be seen through night vision goggles. Sometimes also used by spotters or commanders to mark a specific target. They can potentially set fire to objects, if the incendiary compound hasn't burned out yet on impact.

*Less-lethals - Commonly known as 'rubber bullets' even though they're made of other substances such as plastic, foam, wax, and beanbag rounds for shotguns these days. Used in riot control and such, where the shooter isn't allowed to kill. The key word is "less", however. They hurt like a sonovabitch and can still kill in the wrong circumstances when they hit you in the head or a sensitive area, though. Some, such as blanks or wax, are also mixed in with real rounds before being loaded in weapons of a firing squad to make the responsibility of an execution unclear amidst the shooters. Airsoft this ain't.

*Silver - Pure fantasy, but common in there to counter supernatural creatures weak to silver. Silver bullets would suffer from many problems that rarely get mentioned in fiction. Chief among these are the cost, that silver shrinks when cast (so it's really hard to get the right size and shape), and that silver is too soft to engage rifling so even if you get the right size accuracy will be terrible. [[Monster Hunter International|More /k/ aligned works]] solve these issues with solutions like sabots (which helps accuracy but still worse than real bullets), ballistic tips made of silver and frangible bullets filled with powdered silver (instead of the typical competitively cheap metal).

===Types of Rounds===
Apart from the traditional type of rounds, here are some unique ones for reference.

*Blanks - What you commonly see loaded in movies. Blanks are basically that; the round has a primer and powder, but the bullet is just a paper or plastic sheet designed to keep the powder in, so you get the sound of a gun going off, but not the damage. That said, blanks ''can'' still kill people, the gasses used to propel the bullet forward are still there (just not launching any bullets); and its powerful enough to liquefy organs and break bones if you were dumb/desperate enough shoot someone with a blank at close range. Movie armorers make a point of demonstrating this with things like fruit before letting anyone touch blank firing guns. This is why instead of blank-firing guns, actors will use flash paper guns at close range for safety. There's also blank ammo specifically designed to make as much noise as possible for the purpose of disorienting and intimidating people in an area. In a military sense blanks do have a use: typically for turning your rifle into a grenade launcher, using the expanding gasses to launch a grenade held at the muzzle by a cup.

*Caseless - An old but futuristic concept, a caseless round has everything required for the bullet to be launched, inside the bullet itself. [[Memes|That's 65% more bullet, per bullet.]]This removes the need for guns to eject spent shell casings after every shot, reducing weight and ammo costs. While this has been pioneered since WW2 and a few prototype examples for it were already developed (like the G11); caseless rounds are still determined to be too unreliable for field combat use in comparison to traditional ammunition, so as of today their use is largely limited (mainly to grenade rounds like the Russian VOG-25 grenade). Their biggest disadvantage is that ammo cases normally transports a large amount of heat out of the weapon, and, if you have paid attention in your physics class, you know that heat always has to go ''somewhere'', so with caseless ammo, it naturally goes into the weapon, making it prone to overheating and dangerous cookoffs, unless the ammo somehow counteracts this, making it more complex and therefore expensive in the process, and if you've at one point in time interacted with any branch of a national government, you know that the word "expensive" usually spells doom for any project that it is attached to.

*Gyrojet - A unique but largely impractical cartridge in the gun circuit, WH40K's famous [[bolter|boltguns]] run on the same concept as the gyrojet. Basically, the bullets are miniature rockets that build up speed as they travel, capable of exceeding the speed of sound after traveling 60ft. While the idea sounds cool; gyrojets were ''required'' to gain minimum distance to achieve their full effect (if you fired at point-blank for example, they didn't really do much), had a design flaw in their propulsion system that made the rockets prone to corkscrewing off-course, and were highly temperamental to environmental conditions, not to mention the costs. At the end the concept was a bust as it didn't really do a lot that couldn't be achieved with traditional small arms for cheaper. Still GeeDubs thought it was nice and became the basis of how boltguns work, where it's largely the same but with more techno-flubdubbery and "because future".

*Magnum - Unlike what vidya gaems portray, magnums aren't really super-mega handguns of death. A magnum round is basically a parent cartridge that's been enlarged so it does more damage due to a combination of larger mass and more powder used (so it flies faster and hits harder), and this can be anything from the .357 magnum handgun round used by revolvers, to the large caliber .338 Lapua and Winchester magnum rounds used for precision sniper rifles.
** Special - An earlier equivalent. The only two to see continued existence are .38 special and .44 special which also went from black powder to smokeless powder, both of which coincidentally have even longer magnum variants; however both are lengthened only as a safety precaution to make them different, as smokeless powder left plenty of room for more powder.

*Overpressured - Designated as "+P", overpressured rounds still uses the same cartridge (unlike the magnum), but is loaded with higher-pressure powder that releases more energy when fired. It sounds like a nice way to up your damage, but guns have a level of pressure they can tolerate, and if your gun isn't designed to do such and you use +P rounds; you run the very high risk of destroying your gun (and the rest of your body if you're that unlucky). There are guns that are proofed to fire +P and +P+ ammo but it typically used in SMGs. Certain batches of surplus ammo will blow up guns because they were made to be used in more robust SMGs and not commercial pistols, poorly stored, or just plain poorly made.

*Subsonic - Rounds designed to shoot slower than the speed of sound to prevent creating the loud cracking sound a projectile makes when it goes beyond 345m/s, making them more stealthy. There's three ways to go about this. The first is to put less powder in the round, or use specialized one that explodes with and imparts less energy (although this may cause problems for self-loading guns, who are not designed to cycle using less powerful ammo). The other is to make the bullet much heavier than usual so the standard powder load doesn't have enough energy to have the bullet break the sound barrier, although this translates to slower projectile speed and lower range, but increased chances of armor penetration as heavier bullets retain energy much more efficiently than lighter ones. The last is a combination of the two methods. Subsonic munitions are primarily used in silenced weapons for their sound-reduction benefits (the most extreme case of which is that only the cycling of the gun can be heard, the gunshot is virtually inaudible), although some take advantage of certain subsonic rounds' heavy bullets and low-energy for defeating armored opponents at close range (as the lower energy translates to lower chances of overpenetration, which AP bullets have a tendency of doing when tearing through non-armored parts of the body).

===Types of shotgun loads===

*Buckshot - The shell is filled with lead or steel pellets, each of which is typically around 15mm each (it ultimately depends on the bore), that spread out once discharged. Poor at penetrating armor and limited effective range comparison to other firearms as the pellets scatter and the pellets are too small to do serious damage individually (Although do note that unlike what the vidya gaems portray; a decent 12G shotgun loaded with buckshot is effective upto 30-50m, not just in point-blank range); but they do cover a fairly large radius and the force of 8-12 pellets impacting against your body will send you tumbling and rolling on the floor in agony, even if they don't penetrate.

*Birdshot - Similar to buckshot and more pellets, but the pellets are smaller (5mm and less, although still depends on the bore). As their name describes; the ammo is designed to pelt down birds by [[Ork|throwing as many bullets at the target and hoping atleast a few of them hit]]. You can use them against non-avian targets aswell and they'll do something, but they don't pack the punch you'd like and don't expect them to dent body armor too much. Their ineffectiveness against human targets [[Wikipedia:Dick Cheney hunting accident|was demonstrated by a (possibly drunk) Vice President of the United States]] when he shot an old guy in the face with some and the only lasting damage was the voice.

*Slug - Instead of multiple pellets; the gun fires a single, heavy lead projectile, similar to how traditional ammo works. Because shotgun barrels are not rifled; slugs do not have the range nor accuracy rifles do, but because of their weight and the shotgun's fairly large caliber; they're fully capable of crushing their way through armor at close range. Slugs are typically used for hunting large game in areas where rifle ammunition isn't allowed due to the risk of overpenetration.

*Breaching - A specialized variant of the slug round, breaching rounds are designed specifically to destroy door locks at extremely close range. Generally composed of very dense powdered steel held together with wax.

*Less-lethals - Designed for riot control where the shooter isn't allowed to kill; the bullet is either made of rubber, paint, or beanbags designed for minimal penetration, while the powder used in the rounds is less to reduce the projectile's velocity. The end result is a bullet designed to simply cause shock and pain to the target in order to incapacitate them long enough to be arrested and not rejoin the fight in the meantime. That said, you're still talking about launching an object at someone at speeds similar to cars speeding on a highway; so hitting vulnerable parts of the body like the head, neck, or ribs can still result in a fatality. On the flip side, anyone wearing bullet-resistant armor won't be affected too much.

*Chain-shot - Typically reserved for olden cannons, the chain-shot is two cannonballs linked with a chain. The spinning contraption was intended to tear through a ship's mast and sails. Obsolete as fuck, but it is still possible to replicate this with shotgun ammo. Basically you tie two pellets or slugs together so that when they're discharged; they're basically flying garrotes. Awesome, but because of how unpredictable bullets are while in flight, it's highly impractical for combat use.

*Flechette - Buckshot, but instead of pellets; the shell is loaded with small metal darts. They achieved better penetration and range than traditional buckshot; but because shotguns aren't really designed as precision weapons; they were highly impractical for combat applications. They destroyed barrels and tended to deflect off really silly things like raindrops.

*Explosive Rounds - The shell contains an slug that explodes upon impact, capable of using anti-armor or anti-personnel shells, basically turning the shotgun into a portable grenade launcher. Not as powerful as the real thing, but invaluable when you need accurate explosions but not the excessive collateral damage or restrictive weight and mass. Has seen some use in rifle rounds on the eastern front of World War II as well as in .50 BMG (officially for use on objects, not people).

*Dragon's Breath - An odd type of ammo. DB shells are loaded with magnesium pellets. When discharged; they create a short but hot burst of fire that burn at temperatures upto 1,600°C. While not really used much for conventional combat due to its status as an incendiary weapon, blasting a person with this at close range will create about the same results as a giant fire-breathing lizard incinerating an unlucky knight to death, hence their name. Also destroys barrels, as dragon's breath burns hotter than the melting point of steel, and close to the melting point of chromium (two of the most common metals used in gun parts).

*Misc - Shotguns aren't really picky with ammo since they are manually operated and don't depend on a gas seal as much; just about ''anything'' can be used for bullets if worse comes to worse/you're bored. Could be lego pieces, could be old hard candy, solid scrap,frozen meat [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-n4bxxn9gA or even glass]. They can also fire flares (but need stronger propellant and an unchoked barrel to avoid getting stuck and melting the barrel). Hell, it can be a Sly Marbo tabletop figure if you could fit him inside a shell and prevent him from disintegrating from the force while exiting the barrel, the choice is yours. (More likely blow up your gun as Sly refuses to die and gives you the finger for trying.) Incidentally this unfastidious in ammunition also means that in a fantasy setting you can basically load anything you want down the barrel of a shotgun to deal with basically any monster that had a weakness. Wooden stakes for vampires, Cold iron for fae, silver for werewolves, the aforementioned dragon breath for flame vulnerable monsters, salt if that's a thing demons hate in your mythos, freeze holy water into ice and you could still likely shoot it with a sabot. Basically shotguns should be the go to for the modern murder hobo.

==Manufacturing of Firearms==

===Brief Overview===

The production of firearms historically speaking has been an, err, interesting path. The first firearms were little more than metal (or whatever other material one so chose) cylinder with with one hole for the ignition of the powder and one for the projectile to be projected. As time passes on manufacturing techniques got more advanced, leading to triggers which frees up one hand from having to push a hot object into the powder. Most used a sort of striker to ignite the powder, be it flint or rope. Around the early to mid 19th century, self-containing cartridges became a possible reality. As such the firearm had to change too, with an action either simply accepting a round into the barrel or an action that would be worked to put it in. Near the end of the 19th century and start of the 20th, auto-loading firearms became possible, but the actions had to become more complex to automatically feed the round by means of either recoil or gas. After that, guns haven't exactly changed too drastically (still major changes) in the current 21st century, pardoning the much higher efficiency of the modern weaponry. The complexity of modern firearms however doesn't interfere with how cheaply they can be produced. As such, there are endless aftermarket gun parts for sale around in places such as the USA.

===DIY===
[[image:.45 ACP ISB SMG.png|thumb|175px|left|.45 ACP ISB SMG designed from a STEN/Sterling, but has many parts that differ. According to the designer "I like to think of it as a cross between an FG-42, a Welrod and a Sten."]]

First and foremost: guns are not toys, and should never be treated as such.

It comes as no secret that one can manufacture their own guns in one's own home so they chose to ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khyber_Pass_copy Just ask the Afghans]). Depending on the skill of the user, the manufacturing tools used, material quality of the parts being used and/or made, design of the gun, and so on, a DIY can range from a explode-in-your-hand zip gun all the way up to high-quality rifles that have a minute of angle (MOA) of 1 or less. All one need is one's [[Ork|imagination]] and a [[Techpriest|firm understanding on how a gun works from the inside out and machining]]. In addition to that, the internet has a broad data base on the knowledge and schematics of guns. Additionally, while online information is enough to give you a rough understanding to create black or smokeless powder to add to hand-loaded cartridges, the proper equipment, environmentally controlled rooms, and ingredient ratios are hard to get right the first time without causing an accident (as attested to the many Chinese and European chemists who historically died while tinkering to get the formulas right). And while you could arguably use firework material or even discarded nitrocellulose film tape instead, most people are going to simply buy their primers, propellants, and projectiles off the shelves to reload their spent casings instead of building a lab in their basement.

[[image:Homemade_gun_exploding.PNG|thumb|150px|right| Careful you might blow your eye out]]
That said, DIY-guns require a decent understanding of physics, chemistry, and mechanical engineering to manufacturer at all, so unless you're a [[Mekboy]] with all the know-wotz implanted in your brain; its highly recommended you read up first, lest your firearm's first unwitting victim is you.

[[image:Stormbolter_IRL.jpg|thumb|223px|right|If a modern rifle was a stormbolter.]]

Examples of DIY are:

*[[Grot Blasta| Zip gun]]: Bottom of the barrel trash guns that are considered too simplistic and bare bones for anyone who isn't a post-apocalyptic raider or somewhat ambitious convict. These guns are rather unique as they require next to no skill to actually make, often incorporating rubber bands, nails, plumbing supplies and zip ties into their construction (hence their name) to craft something that [[counts as]] a gun while firing (sometimes); a common example is the slam-fire shotgun which is literally two pipes (one just wide enough to comfortably fit the shell with the other one wide enough to fit the other pipe while sealed at one end) that are slammed into each over where a fixed nail at the end acts as the firing pin.

*[[Stubber| Standardized design]]: With gun laws around the world becoming ever more strict its little wonder that some would protest such bullshit by creating guides on how to make fully functional semi professional designs in your shed. At one end of the spectrum is the infamous Luty gun which is a family of submachine guns specifically designed by a man named Philip Luty to be buildable by anyone with some basic hand tools in protest to the British government’s delusion that they can prevent criminals from getting guns [[derp| by making guns illegal]]. Said designs (including the related Carlo SMG’s) have been found in the hands of organized crime and guerilla groups in particular lawless or insurgent-prone regions like South America, Palestine, and other developing countries. At the other hand of the spectrum is artisanal gunsmiths like the ones in the Khyber Pass region on the Afghan-Pakistani frontier that clone their gun parts off existing models they got their hands on and disassembled as a [[Standard Template Construct|master template]].

*[[Shoota| Experimental design]]: Every line of guns started out as a experiment somewhere. Some catch on, some don't, some just are there because why the heck not? Want to have dual barrels on your gun? Go for it! Add a counterweight to the gas block so that the recoil is next to nothing? Makes shoot a breeze! Add a round cam to your bolt so you can have a smooth action and reduce wear on the gun? No reason not to! The choices are endless if with time, diligence, and a bit of imagination.

*[[Tau| CNC Manufacturing]]: Avoiding the painstaking effort of machining it by hand [[Machine Spirit|a machine do it for you?]] A Computer numerical control (CNC) machine can easily set the settings in any digitally-connected presses, lathes, mills, saws, and drills to crank out receivers and whatever other parts you need assuming you have the plans on the computer and the materials to be worked. In most countries, it's only necessary to mill some of the components as most firearms have a single designated part which is legally viewed as "the gun" (usually the receiver for rifles and the frame for pistols) and everything else is considered replaceable. The downsides of that CNC are a bit pricey relative to their hand milling machine counterpart. However some go for as low as $1200, which is roughly the same price as a mid-tier intermediate rifle in the USA.

*[[Wraithbone|3D Printing]]: while of questionable quality and legality the same way [[3DPrinting|3D printed]] miniatures are with “official” tabletop gaming tournaments, the additive manufacturing spinoff of [[Casting]] can theoretically enable you to form all but the most stressed parts of a firearm. Barring the barrel, receiver, and firing chamber (besides springs, screws, and attachment pins) of a firearm that are better off milled or stamped from metal, one can theoretically 3D print all the other parts of a gun frame from the stock and grip to the fire control group and trigger. Examples range from small pistols (like the single-shot Liberator) to full power rifles (such as the Amigo Grande clone of the CETME) with all other kinds of intermediary weapons in between. For simplification (unless incorporating an existing gas piston system attached to a pre-made metal barrel), most aren't more advanced than blow-back powered semiautomatics as building a gas-operated piston system with plastic is suicide. In addition, unless built by someone who really knows what they’re doing, actually shooting full-power ammunition out of a 3D printed gun is as risky or worse as firing bullets and shotgun shells out of a plastic flare gun. So far, some 3D printed guns, like the FGC-9 carbine, have been seen in the hands of organized gangs, neo-IRA, or Burmese partisan groups.

==Relations here==
Most fantasy writers tend to exclude firearms. There are a variety of reasons for this, such as:
*Most fantasy comes from [[Tolkien]], who, being a naturalist who largely despised industrialization, did not put guns in Middle-earth, although gunpowder does exist, used by the wizards (Gandalf's Fireworks and Saruman's Fires of Orthanc) and by the orcs.
*Most fantasy (whether copy-catting Tolkien or not) is based on medieval Europe. Depending on your definition of "medieval," Europe did ''technically'' have firearms towards the very end (crude and unreliable ones, but firearms nonetheless), but most authors base their fantasy on earlier medieval Europe.
*As in real life, firearms mean that vulgar, dirty, peasant conscripts can take down the author's Mary Sue noblemen [[knight]]s that trained ''so'' hard in the arts of swordsmanship and melee combat, though if the writer had any historical knowledge they would know that armor can be made "proof" against early firearm bullets (which is partly what spurred the development of full-body plate mail to begin with, as a sidenote) or that a crossbow or longbow can just as easily (in fact, MORE easily due to the general shitty performance of old guns) turn an armored man into swiss cheese.

All that being said, most fantasy authors are much more open to cannons, which became viable on the battlefield long before smaller firearms anyway, especially in naval use (cannons were a huge game changer for sea battles). Some even make room for crude rocket launchers, especially if there is a not-China/not-Korea in their setting. (Laugh, but a big firework rocket will put a sod on fire and ruin his day just fine, doubly so if the morons are in wooden fort.)

Generally speaking, if a world has both the "stock" fantasy races and guns, there will a strict hierarchy of who uses them, from most to least likely:
*[[Dwarves]]: They almost always have the best, most plentiful guns. If only one race gets firearms, it's likely going to be them.
*[[Gnomes]]: As tinkerers, they're frequently on a different tech level from everyone else, including firearms.
*[[Human]]s: Unlike the other races, which are usually an all-or-nothing deal, different human nations have different likelihoods of having guns. Italian and East Asian analogues, as well as the "industrious" or "scientific" nations, are much more likely to have them. Your barbarians, guys keen on knights and chivalry, and the more conservative less so. If the nation is Post Renaissance, expect pike and shot style IRL analogue armies. If your setting has pirates, you pretty much have to have cannons at the very least.
*[[Orc]]s: Orcs would probably love guns if they could actually build some. However, they're usually either incapable of building things or have a hard time organizing themselves to the point that large-scale firearm and powder production is possible. Even so, they could still obtain them them by other means such as fighting as mercenaries for guns and stealing them off the corpses of the fallen and similar. They are higher on the list if they are more like Tolkienian orcs, which can be fairly well organized and "delight in explosions" enough to manufacture their own gunpowder, if only for simple bombs. If Orcs are of the more Chaotic Evil variety then they will barely have crossbows, let alone guns. If Orcs are of the Klingon variety, as in the violent tendencies are normal enough that the civilization can function, then they will LOVE big guns.
*[[Elves]]: Being arrogant pricks, they see guns as crude, inaccurate, foul-smelling contraptions that are no substitute for a bow. However, they'll still use them when necessary, even if they don't like it. That said, elves also had a good reason to not use them, namely most firearms in a fantasy settling are arquebus-type single-shot smoothbore weapons, which are outranged by longbows. Longbows are even decent against most kinds of armor ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Agincourt ask the French]). The main advantage of firearms, even early ones, is ease of use and armor penetration though armor could be made that could stop an early handgun. The main problem with longbows is that it takes years to learn, which is not a problem for long-lived elves. Between a smoothbore handgun and a longbow, the bow is simply a better choice to an elf. The problem of course is that longbows are about as good as bow technology can get while handguns can be improved to rifles, against which bows only have rate of fire as an advantage, then Repeating Rifles, which bows have no advantage at all against. So while Elves may have an advantage to sticking with their longbows well into the age of pike and shot, if they're not careful their Longbows will end up fighting against Springfields and Winchesters and they will end up the worse in that exchange. If tech reaches that point, expect the Archer/Hunter stereotype to turn into Snipers/Mad minute riflemen. And if they're still vehemently opposed to foul-smelling gunpowder, it's possible they could consider air guns (like the Girardoni air rifle used in Europe and by Lewis & Clark's exploratory mission). Assuming they can make a reliable air pump and pressure tank on their own.
*Wood Elves and other Fey/Nature types: They'd rather die than use a firearm, even if the rest of the world has moved onto biplanes, bolt-action rifles, shell-firing cannons, and tanks. If this happens, this means they either have powerful magic (so the actual weapons used are unimportant), they are ''really really'' good shots with a bow, they have much stronger friends (Think like the amish) or they're about to get colonized. That said: the problem they have are not guns themselves, but making them as mass production always has some environmental costs they can not stand for. If they could get their hands on some way to make guns that did not harm the environment in the process, at least anymore than making a sword does, they might go small for small scale fire arm production, but this is rarely explored in fiction.

For how this conservative attitude tends to apply to tech in general for fantasy settings, see [[Medieval Stasis]].

Of course, sci-fi writers almost exclusively use firearms, seeing as how it's THE FUUUUUUTTTTTUUUUURRRREEEE. The exceptions are [[Warhammer 40,000]] and ''[[Dune]]'': although guns are the main combat implement in 40K, close combat is still alive and well, and most armies have at least one elite, close-combat unit wielding weapons that are distinctly not firearms; in ''Dune'', guns are pretty much dead as a weapon of war, as personal-scale force fields stop fast-moving matter (like bullets) from crossing them, but slower matter (like swung knives) can pass through, and if a lasgun blast touches the field, at least one end of the equation comes out "BOOM!!!". Most sci-fi universes do have close combat weapons on the scale we see in modern warfare, though, like in Mass Effect, where, as the Reaper forces (who are basically [[Necron]]s and [[Tyranids]] combined) invade the galaxy, people begin developing their Omnitools to snap-produce a white-hot blade of hard metal above the wearer's hand... And then there's the Krogan, who are too bloodthirsty and too large to properly take cover, so they headbutt things instead of using guns.

== Rules ==

Most fantasy RPGs deal with firearms the way they deal with lots of things that threaten their [[Medieval Stasis]]: terror, suspicion, and shitty rules. If you have the option of using a firearm in most games, it probably has one shot that's weaker than a bow, then takes an entire encounter to reload, and is illegal everywhere in-setting in case you didn't get the hint.

[[D&D#Basic_Dungeons_&_Dragons|BECMI]] Dungeons & Dragons doesn't have rules for firearms, but there were one or two adventure modules that incorporated a crash-landed spaceship, with weapons the players could loot. They were treated as magic wands and staves. A few issues of Dragon magazine offered rules for early cannons and hand cannons.

[[Advanced Dungeons & Dragons]] mentions guns in a tucked-away subsection on importing TSR's Cowboys & Indians game Boot Hill to AD&D (DMG, pg113). Revolver pistols and Gatling guns would do as much damage as a longsword; shotguns as much damage as a two-handed claymore, a (thrown) stick of dynamite does 4x the damage of a short sword. The rules insist "...when gunpowder is brought into the fantasy world it becomes inert junk, ergo, no clever alchemist can duplicate it." To reinforce this concept, the ''Manual of the Planes'' included rules for factors of prime material planes, one of which determined if complex (read: setting destroying) chemical compositions like blackpowder would even work in said plane. If you have any knowledge of chemistry, you may cry now. Notably, [[Greyhawk]] had a [[Murlynd|god of firearms]], and his paladins were basically Wild West sheriffs.

[[Advanced_Dungeons_%26_Dragons#AD.26D_2nd_Edition|Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Second Edition]] included the arquebus in the Players Handbook, where they were depicted as slow, powerful and expensive (500 Gp!). They were also potentially dangerous to the user as the result of a bad roll. It was painfully stressed that the inclusion of firearms in the campaign was the call of the DM. Firearms were a bit more common in the [[Spelljammer]] setting. Moving away from the classic fantasy background, there was the historical campaign sourcebook ''A Mighty Fortress'' that introduced rules for firearms of the 16th and 17th centuries and the ''Masque of the Red Death'' setting for [[Ravenloft]] pushed everything into a gothic horror version of the 1890's.

[[Dungeons_&_Dragons_3rd_Edition|D&D third edition]] has a section on advanced technology (DMG, pp162-164) for Renaissance-era, 20th century, and futuristic weapons. The weapons are more powerful than what can be found among ranged weapons in the Player's Handbook, but also heavier and more expensive and require exotic weapon profiency (despite muzzle loaders taking off because they were much easier to teach than archery). You're better off with magic crossbows. The White Wolf [[Ravenloft]] material also includes them with minor tweaks.

[[Pathfinder]] greatly over complicates guns: they have shorter range than bows without magical items, take longer to reload, and have at least a 1/20 chance to break or explode every time you fire it, and use up more expensive ammunition. As though this wasn't enough, they have a stiff feat tax needed to make use of them and the fact that there's really only one major gun factory in the land, the Gunworks of the small nation of Alkenstar, and they keep most of their guns to themselves. In return they hit harder, have a ''terrifying'' 4x crit modifier, and ''use touch AC'' in the first range increment, effectively ignoring armor when fired close up. A specialized class, the [[gunslinger]], is centered around the use of firearms. [[Lasgun|Energy weapon]] specialists in Iron Gods have it a bit better, though ammo is limited for most of the adventure.

[[Dragonmech]] has guns, sort of kinda, as well. Only instead of using gunpowder, they use steam to propel the bullet like an airsoft gun. they can only be fired once every other round as the pressure needs to build up. There Treated a bit like crossbows that do more damage and can shoot a little further.

[[Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition]] includes a section on firearms in the ''Dungeon Master's Guide''. They hark back to 2nd edition in terms of stats, fitting the general tone of the game, but aren't quite as punishing for a player to learn to use and make. And with the increased emphasis on houseruling and homebrewing, modding the Crossbow Expert feat to work for them seems a simple leap of logic. The "race builder" guide in the back even suggests changing around the dwarf weapon proficiencies to include them! Furthermore, if you want to get your [[Expedition to the Barrier Peaks]] on, it includes some futuristic guns as well, like lasers and disintegrators.

[[Warhammer Fantasy]] features firearms based on early real-world equivalents, like flintlock pistols, musket rifles and the blunderbuss. Although deadly and still on the experimental side, they're also considered very unreliable and are prone to misfire and sometimes even to explode. Rpg-wise, firearms were already included in the core rulebook of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2nd Edition, but were later somewhat expanded in the Old World Armoury supplement. Some variations that function like firearms were also added as weapons to some Skaven classes in the Old World Bestiary supplement. Generally speaking, firearms require more costs in order to be used, as each shot requires a firearm shot (bullet) and additional gunpowder. Except for the obvious disadvantages of becoming useless once getting wet and longer reloading times, firearms deal more damage than bows and crossbows, with more complex models even having a repeater function, but obviously longer reloading times for each barrel to be loaded again.

[[Iron Kingdoms]] takes full advantage of guns in its steampunk setting. Most of the kingdoms have at least Napoleonic-era muzzle loading rifles. Cygnar is a bit more advanced with revolvers and machine guns, as well as tesla-style lightning guns. The iconic Gun-Mages carve runes onto their bullets to allow them to empower their shooting with spell effects.

{{MedievalWeaponry}}

Middle East

2022-05-04T21:39:29Z

2607:FB90:6FF4:7A06:D087:A795:6215:797A: /* Middle Eastern Culture */

{{skubby}}

[[image:Middle_East.png|thumb|300px|right|A thousand sights, a thousand nights, a thousand years, a thousand tears...]]
{{topquote|They say in the Middle East - a pessimist is simply an optimist with experience.| Ehud Barak}}

The Middle East is a region that broadly spans from [[Egypt]] in the west to [[India]] in the east with northern and southern borders being the Black & Caspian sea and the Arabian Sea respectively. In the middle of all of this is over 6000 years of civilization, at least half-a-dozen awesome and significant cultures, more history than you can shake a...anything at really and also a fuckton of culture, wars and mineable stuff. The importance of the region and it's myriad of cultures has not lessened in the 20th and 21st centuries as the region continues to be, if not exactly influential, then influenced due to the resources and politics going on around it and within it.

Since it is Europe's closest neighbour, the region and it's societies have been interacting with the smorgasbord of Europe's cultures since at least the [[Bronze Age]] so there are a number of analogues of Middle Eastern societies in fantasy and even sci-fi. Dungeons and Dragons has [[Al-Qadim]], [[Lord of the Rings]] has Harad, Game of Thrones has Mereen and so on. And this is not even counting [[Video Games]] either.

== Middle Eastern History ==

The Middle East, being one of the ¨cradles of civilization¨ has metric gigatons of history under it's belt, more than even [[China]] so the sections below will be the broadest overviews by necessity. Still the history van be roughly divided into 4 periods with a number of sub-periods within each. So strap yourself in as we dive into the deep end of history.

=== Ancient History (4000 BC - 500 AD) ===
[[image:Babylon.png|thumb|300px|right|Between the time when the oceans drank Atlantis and the rise of the sons of Aryas, there was an age undreamed of...]]
After the period of various neolithic cultures discovering agriculture, the first human towns and city-states began to form (these could go back to as early as 9000-7000 BC as attested by Catal Huyuk and Jericho). The most prominent cities of this period were Uruk, Babillon, Elam and others. Two civilizations of note arose in this era around 3500 BC - Sumer and Akkad which are famous for their ziggurats (OG pyramids) and for laying the basis for much of civilization in the west since their stuff was picked up by Egyptians, then Greeks and so on. In about 2340 BC Sargon the Great united the various city-states in the south and thus founded the Akkadian dynasty - the world's first empire.

This set a kind of precedent for future powerful empires that would come to rule almost the entire Middle East. After Akkadians, of note are the Assyrian Empires of 1365–1076 BC and the Neo-Assyrian Empire of 911–605 BC. The Assyrian Empire at its peak was the largest the world had yet seen. It ruled all of what is now Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Kuwait, Jordan, [[Egypt]], Cyprus, and Bahrain—with large swathes of Iran, Turkey, Armenia, Georgia, Sudan, and Arabia.

From the early 6th century BC onwards there were several Persian states that dominated the region, beginning with the non-Persian Neo-Babylonian Empire, then their successor the Achaemenid Empire also known as the first Persian Empire. In the 300s BC a gigachad guy called Alexander the Great decided that he wanted to rule the world and so he went ahead and conquered everything from Greece to Egypt all the way to the border of [[India]]. Sadly he died just as he was getting to the process of ruling his mega-empire and in a final moment of chadery he declared that his empire would belong "to the strongest" and within 5 minutes there were a bunch of successor empires like the Seleucids, Bactrians, Ptolemaic [[Egypt]] and others, and virtually all of them had a city called Alexandria but the one in Egypt mattered most.

After Alexander, the various Alexandrian successor states were dicking around with each other, not noticing the big roman-shaped shadow rising in the west. In 66–63 BC the Roman general Pompey got shit done and conquered much of the Middle East in one fell swoop. The Romans united the region into yet another giga-empire and integrated the region with most of Europe and North Africa in terms of politics and economics, not to mention the globalising effect of free transit for imperial citizens and dependents. Even areas not directly under Rome were strongly influenced by the Empire which was the most powerful political and cultural entity for centuries.

Though Romans brought much of their culture, law and customs to the region, the Greek culture and language continued to dominate as well, being another strong cultural factor. The region effectively became the Empire's "bread basket" as the key agricultural producer and as a somewhat of a consolation for egyptians who survived as a culture this long - Ægyptus became by far the most wealthy Roman province and a center of learning.

It's also worth mentioning that to the east of Roman Empire were also two major polities - the Parthian and the Kushan empires. The former represented a constant threat to Rome's eastern boundaries before transitioning into the Sassanid Empire due to internal strife while Kushan would do it's own thing. There is also evidence of Tang [[China]] doing trade with the region and even being aware of Rome. Lastly, starting from the 30s AD - Christianity would see a significant spread from Palestine/Judea though it would not advance much farther east than Euphrates-Tigris border in a significant manner.

After the fragmentation of the Western Roman Empire, the eastern half decided that it really liked the color purple and rebranded itself as...the Roman Empire (Byzantium being an anachronistic modern name but we will roll with it for the sake of convenience). Byzantium continued to trudge along, occupying the western portion of the region and even expanding to reconquer a respectable amount of the former Roman Empire in the 500s though from there it would decline in favour of other powers.

=== Medieval History (500 - 1000) ===
[[image:Bazaar.png|thumb|300px|right|You want it? It's yours sadiq, so long as you have enough gold!]]
In the 5-6th centuries the Middle East was separated into small, weak states loomed over by two vast empires - the Sasanian Empire of the Persians and the Byzantine Empire in Anatolia plus the Levant. The Byzantines and Sasanians dicked with each other as a neat reflection of the rivalry between the Roman and the Persian empires. The Byzantine-Sasanian rivalry was also seen through their respective cultures and religions. The Byzantines were the champions of Hellenism and Christianity while the Sasanians thought themselves heroes of ancient Iranian traditions and of the traditional Persian religion - Zoroastrianism.

Meanwhile, down south we have the Arabian Peninsula which largely was and continued to be a dustbowl of little importance. The nomadic Bedouin tribes dominated the Arabian deserts where they worshiped idols and were organised into small clans based on mutual kinship. There were scant cities and agriculture in Arabia except for Mecca and Medina (then called Yathrib) which were important hubs for trade between Africa and Eurasia with most citizens there being merchants - this all will become important VERY SOON.

Right around 620-30s there arose a new ofshoot of abrahamic religions - Islam, and it would become big, really big. The details on Islam can be found on the respective [[Mythology|page]] or on the other wiki, but the religion blew up FAST and in some 40 years after it's inception managed to conquer whole of Arabia, Persia and vast swathes of Byzantine empire. An interesting thing about Islam is that it's prophet Mohammad was also a military and political leader and while Jesus or Buddha left us general ethical and metaphysical messages, Mohammad was around for a bit longer and proscribed social and political tenets to the faith which gave rise to the concept of a Caliphate - a theocratic social polity that was to be the way to run things. The conquest stopped in the 750s as the new Caliphate ran out of steam and the usual fracturing between successors began after Muhammad was unalived, but Islam had by this time profiled itself as the pre-eminent socio-political and religious force in the Middle East under the various dynasties of the Caliphates.

Shortly after Islam became the dominant religion in Arabia, the Muslim conquests expanded ''very'' rapidly east and west, spreading across all of North Africa and even into southern Europe, where they claimed the entirety of Spain for centuries and besieged large parts of Italy and France. The Byzantines and Franks successfully halted further expansion, but Caliphate still claimed enough territory to rival and eventually supersede the Byzantines. The wealth and power that came with it ensured that the formerly backwater state of Arabia would remain a powerhouse for years to come.

The Arabian islamic vanguard would continue to dominate the newly conquered and islamised lands for the next 300 years. When Muhammad introduced Islam it had a the effect of nearly erasing the other various Middle Eastern cultures, although it also inspired advances in architecture, science, technology, and the formation of a distinct way of life giving it overall a mixed heritage. Islam also created the need for spectacularly built mosques to flex on their Abrahamic siblings which also created a unique form of architecture. Meanwhile, missionaries and warriors worked to forcibly spread the religion from Arabia to North and Sudanic Africa, South and Southeast Asia, and the Mesopotamia area. This created a potent mix of cultures, especially in Africa. Lastly, the "People of the Book" (Christians, Jews, and Zoroastrians) were allowed to live although in second class conditions. This courtesy wasn't extended to members of polytheist religions or Buddhism, with those folks being given the option of convert or die. This period would be disrupted by two events - the arrival of Seljuks/Turks and the Crusades.

=== The Crusades (1000 - 1300) ===
In the 1000's, the Persians (now rebranded as the Seljuks) started some shit with the Byzantines that ultimately ended with them sacking Constantinople. Between the eastern armies crossing the Hellespont and the blocking of pilgrimages into Jerusalem was the last straw for Christendom, and war were declared, whereupon thousands of ambitious princes, mercenaries, fugitives, and fanatics swarmed to Venice, got on boats, and proceeded to invade Jerusalem, intending to take back the Holy Land for Christendom from the Mohammedans.

Individual crusades were met with varied success; the first Crusade successfully caught the Seljuks offguard and led to the creation of the so-called Crusader States, which lasted for about a hundred years. Then an Arab warlord named Saladin who broke off from the Seljuks successfully rallied the people of Egypt and Syria to reclaim Jerusalem; following this, several more crusades were waged by Europe to retake the city, none of which were successful. Several centuries of war ensued, and while the invaders from Europe won the occasional dramatic victory, they were eventually forced away, although it did end any aspirations of Islam forcing its culture upon Europe.

And as the stalwart defenders of Arabia stood on the coast of Palestine, watching the sun set on their retreating enemies, they suddenly heard behind them the cheers and horse hooves of a million GODDAMN MONGOLIANS.

[[image:Constantinople-from-the-entrance-thomas-allom.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Lots of ottomans there, also some Ottomans. ]]

=== Ottoman Period (1300 - 1918) ===
The Ilkhanate hordes of Tulai ultimately were held out of Arabia, although the Seljuks fell to them completely. But as has been established in many other articles featuring the Mongols, they weren't very good at REMAINING Mongol once they ran out of things to put arrows in; in this case they discovered Islam and for once decided that some outsider's religion was actually their kind of thing, probably having to do with a similar bloodthirstiness towards "the other". What succeeded them was the Ottoman empire. Over the next 500 years the Ottomans would largely reunite all of the former Roman territories east of Cisalpine Gaul, into a massive, mostly-Islamic caliphate held together by the Turks, Greeks, and Egyptians that formed its foundation.

The power that held the Ottomans together was the [[Space Marines|Janissaries]]. A Janissary was a Christian male from the Balkan areas of the Empire, forcibly conscripted in youth and forced to convert to Islam (including getting circumcised, since the conscriptees would have been mostly Orthodox), and then subjected to a rigorous military training that made them one of the most elite fighting forces of their time. They were forbidden to marry before forty, but were paid a lifetime salary. Although a brutal system, the resulting army was exceptionally professional, impartial to the empire's many tribes and territories, and utterly loyal to the Sultanate. The net effect of the Janissaries were that the individual animosities of various sects were dampened under Ottoman rule, in favor of the [[Tau|greater greed]] of the Sultanate.

For most of it's life, the Ottoman empire wasn't a terribly bad place to live if you were a Muslim. There was relative peace and prosperity due to flourishing trade as it stood at the crossroads between the Mediterranean and the sea routes to the far east. There was religious freedom as long as taxes were paid (except for non-monotheists) and all the wealth and luxuries of the world to be found in their markets. Interestingly, there were THREE separate, government sanctioned court systems, specifically one system for muslims, another for christians & jews, and the trade courts which handled civil and commercial disputes. The good times ended however when the Europeans discovered that it was slightly cheaper to sail all the fuck way around Africa than to pay Ottoman taxes.

[[image:ModernMiddleEast.jpg|thumb|300px|right|We've come a long way, eh sadiq?]]

=== Modern History (1918 - 20XX) ===
After Ottoman Empire was defeated and WW1 ended, French and Brits decided to screw their own Middle Eastern allies (as usual) and set up their own colonial regimes and puppet states, this was all but codified in the secret Sykes-Picot Agreement which created a bunch of artificial states that would all but guarantee that the region north of Saudi Arabia would remain a socio-political quagmire for many decades to come. Most notable ones are French Syria, British Palestine and Kuwait, as well as marionette Kingdom of Iraq. Saudi Arabia was also formed in that time period from old Arabian peninsula states, while Oman and Yemen became British puppets. This status quo remained all the way up to 1950s, even during WWII (well, if you don't count joint Allied intervention to Iran to prevent it from joining the Axis and get a new safe way for a land-lease, as well as short Iraqi campaign to weed out pro-Hitler Golden Square Party).

During the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s, Syria and Egypt made moves towards independence since the Sick Man of Bosphorus was fast dying of anachronism and lack of key reforms. Although the Kingdom of Egypt was technically "neutral" during World War II, Cairo soon became a major military base for the British and the country was occupied. In Palestine, a potent shitstorm was brewing as conflicting forces of Arab nationalism and Zionism created a situation the British could neither resolve nor gtfo from. The rise of Germany's Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party, who the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem told the idea of the Holocaust to, had created a new urgency in the Zionist quest to immigrate to Palestine and create a Jewish state.

The modern Middle East was primarily shaped by three factors - decolonisation as Europe just gave up on the overcomplicated region to deal with issues at home, the founding of the state of Israel with all the "FUN" that entailed, and the growing importance of this stinky slimy substance called oil. A further layer of complexity was added by the new [[Cold War]] order which saw the world's two remaining superpowers - the USA/NATO and USSR/Warsaw Pact take a keen interest in the region due to various opportunities to dick with each other and the region being the largest (then) known source of civilization-driving oil, with the U.S.A. supporting Israel's right to exist, and the Soviets supporting Palestine's wish to drive the Jews into the sea, figuring they could finish off the Jews and have one less religion they'd have to finish off themselves if they could conquer the Middle East.

After the end of the [[Cold War]] the region experienced some notable changes. It allowed large numbers of Jews in USSR to gtfo from Russia and Ukraine into Israel - further bolstering the Jewish state. It also cut off the easiest source of weapons and loans from USSR meant to oppose pro-western regimes and lastly opened up the prospect of cheap oil from Russia, driving down the price of black gold and reducing the west's dependence on oil from the Arab states. In 1990 the Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein initiated an invasion of oil-rich arab state of Kuwait which lead to the USA having a permanent presence in the Persian Gulf and the Middle East by extension.

Fast forward some ten years and the greatest geopolitical fuckup since the fall of the USSR hit as USA saw the greatest attack on it's soil since the bloody Revolutionary War of the 1770s when a bunch of Al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked some planes and ramed them into the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon, killing some 3000 Americans and wounding about 25000. Suffice it to say that the US was PISSED and soon invaded the country held to harbour the hoodlums - Afghanistan. The 9/11 attacks saw the USA focus it's geopolitical attention to the Middle East for the next 20-ish years as it dicked around in Iraq and Afghanistan. After the Arab Spring which saw an astounding wave of social upheavals from Morocco to Yemen - Syria also turned into a quagmire as the country found itself as a battleground between USA, resurgent Russia, Turkey, Israel and the infamous Islamic State/ISIS/ISIL.

As of the New 20s the situation in the Middle East seems to be returning to something resembling normality, which means a bunch of simmering conflicts between the usual suspects with a few flareups. This is mostly due to USA and Russia shifting their focus to the events going on in Eastern Europe. Meanwhile, China has been busy investing in the countries on the eastern fringes of the region (Pakistan, Uzbekistan and Iran to a lesser degree). The Arabian peninsula has seen some fighting too as Yemen imploded and became a proxy for Saudi Arabian and Iranian dick-slapping contest. The region is still in flux so stay tuned for further developments.

== Middle Eastern Culture ==

In general, Middle Eastern and Central Asian cultures in the region can be split into Semitic (Hebrew, Syriac, Arab, Berber, etc), Iranic (Persian, Farsi, Tajik, Baloch, etc), and Turkic (Azeri, Kazakh, Uzbek, etc) alongside related/historically related groups on the outer edges of the region (such as the Caucasus-inhabiting Armenians or Georgians and the Urdu-Hindi groups in [[India]] in the former case or the Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Kushans, Scythians, Huns, & Mongols in the latter case). The long history of the region means many of the cultures and ethnic groups have long histories of contact and intermingling with each other with both peaceful and violent interactions with each other like in the European Balkans.

== Middle Eastern Religion, Gods and Mythology ==

More than any other region, the Middle East is indelibly linked to the history of monotheism. Greek and Egyptian polytheistic systems coexisted alongside Persian Zoroastrianism and the Abrahamic Hebrew and many other minor sects. All of which were subjugated in the successive conquests of Alexander, and then Rome behind him.

The Romans acted as a great plow, tilling the region and leaving all the minor tribes and faiths fertile for proselytization. And the winner of this great disruption was Abrahamism, which stomped out most of its competitors (ie, the Gnostics). Christianity rose in lockstep with opposition to Roman rule, and then Islam in turn followed it as a response to the void as the empire fell, and finally eastern orthodoxy as the Catholic church began to schism.

By 1100 AD, the following could be said:

* Islam commanded the majority of the region, with the Shia branch being strongest in old Persia and the Sunni being dominant pretty much everywhere else. The Ibadi moderate spinoffs from the Khawarij zeaots who attacked both sides were restricted to Oman with small pockets in the Sahara.
* Orthodox Christians (in Coptic, Assyrian and Greek flavors) were entrenched as minorities in the old Greek colonies north of Arabia, in Assyrian region (yes, the nation is still there, but is very small now) and in Egypt.
* Zoroastrianism and Judaism were entrenched as minorities all over, with some concentration in their respective homelands of Persia and Jerusalem respectively.
* Polytheism in the Middle East, in all of its Egyptian, Hellenistic, Babylonian, and Indo-Aryan (yes, the same root pantheon that the Germanic, Hellenistic, and pre-Brahmic/Hindu pantheons came from but that’s a whole different story) flavors, was extinct.

== Middle Eastern Magic ==

The Middle East has its fair share of supernatural folklore such as the Djinn, ghouls, Shedu, Magi, etc. In addition, no thanks to Alexander the Great’s conquest of the region, alongside the long rule of the Diadochi, the Silk Road, and the Mongol invasions, meant that the Central Asian and Middle Eastern region served as a melting pot for ideas to be exchanged and and syncretized. One example being the conflation of Heracles from the Greco-Batrian settlers with the guardian bodhisattva, Vajrapāṇi, in Buddhism. On the other hand, once monotheism became dominant in the Middle East proper, such theological exchanges lessoned out with the focus being on philosophical, economic, and scientific exchanges instead.

==Middle East Analogs in Fantasy==

* [[Araby]] (duh), [[Badlands]] (in geographical sense) and [[Darklands]] (culturally) in [[Warhammer Fantasy Battle]].
* [[Tallarn Desert Raiders]] Regiment of [[Imperial Guard]] in [[Warhammer 40,000]].
* [[Al-Qadim]] campaign setting from [[DnD]]
* Near Harad from [[Lord of the Rings]]
* Prince of Persia series of vidya
* Shaqqislam factions in [[Infinity]]
* The Imperium (both the Empires ruled by the Corrino and Atreides Dynasties) in [[Dune]]

[[Category: History]]

Middle East

2022-05-04T21:37:49Z

2607:FB90:6FF4:7A06:D087:A795:6215:797A: /* Middle Eastern Culture */

{{skubby}}

[[image:Middle_East.png|thumb|300px|right|A thousand sights, a thousand nights, a thousand years, a thousand tears...]]
{{topquote|They say in the Middle East - a pessimist is simply an optimist with experience.| Ehud Barak}}

The Middle East is a region that broadly spans from [[Egypt]] in the west to [[India]] in the east with northern and southern borders being the Black & Caspian sea and the Arabian Sea respectively. In the middle of all of this is over 6000 years of civilization, at least half-a-dozen awesome and significant cultures, more history than you can shake a...anything at really and also a fuckton of culture, wars and mineable stuff. The importance of the region and it's myriad of cultures has not lessened in the 20th and 21st centuries as the region continues to be, if not exactly influential, then influenced due to the resources and politics going on around it and within it.

Since it is Europe's closest neighbour, the region and it's societies have been interacting with the smorgasbord of Europe's cultures since at least the [[Bronze Age]] so there are a number of analogues of Middle Eastern societies in fantasy and even sci-fi. Dungeons and Dragons has [[Al-Qadim]], [[Lord of the Rings]] has Harad, Game of Thrones has Mereen and so on. And this is not even counting [[Video Games]] either.

== Middle Eastern History ==

The Middle East, being one of the ¨cradles of civilization¨ has metric gigatons of history under it's belt, more than even [[China]] so the sections below will be the broadest overviews by necessity. Still the history van be roughly divided into 4 periods with a number of sub-periods within each. So strap yourself in as we dive into the deep end of history.

=== Ancient History (4000 BC - 500 AD) ===
[[image:Babylon.png|thumb|300px|right|Between the time when the oceans drank Atlantis and the rise of the sons of Aryas, there was an age undreamed of...]]
After the period of various neolithic cultures discovering agriculture, the first human towns and city-states began to form (these could go back to as early as 9000-7000 BC as attested by Catal Huyuk and Jericho). The most prominent cities of this period were Uruk, Babillon, Elam and others. Two civilizations of note arose in this era around 3500 BC - Sumer and Akkad which are famous for their ziggurats (OG pyramids) and for laying the basis for much of civilization in the west since their stuff was picked up by Egyptians, then Greeks and so on. In about 2340 BC Sargon the Great united the various city-states in the south and thus founded the Akkadian dynasty - the world's first empire.

This set a kind of precedent for future powerful empires that would come to rule almost the entire Middle East. After Akkadians, of note are the Assyrian Empires of 1365–1076 BC and the Neo-Assyrian Empire of 911–605 BC. The Assyrian Empire at its peak was the largest the world had yet seen. It ruled all of what is now Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Kuwait, Jordan, [[Egypt]], Cyprus, and Bahrain—with large swathes of Iran, Turkey, Armenia, Georgia, Sudan, and Arabia.

From the early 6th century BC onwards there were several Persian states that dominated the region, beginning with the non-Persian Neo-Babylonian Empire, then their successor the Achaemenid Empire also known as the first Persian Empire. In the 300s BC a gigachad guy called Alexander the Great decided that he wanted to rule the world and so he went ahead and conquered everything from Greece to Egypt all the way to the border of [[India]]. Sadly he died just as he was getting to the process of ruling his mega-empire and in a final moment of chadery he declared that his empire would belong "to the strongest" and within 5 minutes there were a bunch of successor empires like the Seleucids, Bactrians, Ptolemaic [[Egypt]] and others, and virtually all of them had a city called Alexandria but the one in Egypt mattered most.

After Alexander, the various Alexandrian successor states were dicking around with each other, not noticing the big roman-shaped shadow rising in the west. In 66–63 BC the Roman general Pompey got shit done and conquered much of the Middle East in one fell swoop. The Romans united the region into yet another giga-empire and integrated the region with most of Europe and North Africa in terms of politics and economics, not to mention the globalising effect of free transit for imperial citizens and dependents. Even areas not directly under Rome were strongly influenced by the Empire which was the most powerful political and cultural entity for centuries.

Though Romans brought much of their culture, law and customs to the region, the Greek culture and language continued to dominate as well, being another strong cultural factor. The region effectively became the Empire's "bread basket" as the key agricultural producer and as a somewhat of a consolation for egyptians who survived as a culture this long - Ægyptus became by far the most wealthy Roman province and a center of learning.

It's also worth mentioning that to the east of Roman Empire were also two major polities - the Parthian and the Kushan empires. The former represented a constant threat to Rome's eastern boundaries before transitioning into the Sassanid Empire due to internal strife while Kushan would do it's own thing. There is also evidence of Tang [[China]] doing trade with the region and even being aware of Rome. Lastly, starting from the 30s AD - Christianity would see a significant spread from Palestine/Judea though it would not advance much farther east than Euphrates-Tigris border in a significant manner.

After the fragmentation of the Western Roman Empire, the eastern half decided that it really liked the color purple and rebranded itself as...the Roman Empire (Byzantium being an anachronistic modern name but we will roll with it for the sake of convenience). Byzantium continued to trudge along, occupying the western portion of the region and even expanding to reconquer a respectable amount of the former Roman Empire in the 500s though from there it would decline in favour of other powers.

=== Medieval History (500 - 1000) ===
[[image:Bazaar.png|thumb|300px|right|You want it? It's yours sadiq, so long as you have enough gold!]]
In the 5-6th centuries the Middle East was separated into small, weak states loomed over by two vast empires - the Sasanian Empire of the Persians and the Byzantine Empire in Anatolia plus the Levant. The Byzantines and Sasanians dicked with each other as a neat reflection of the rivalry between the Roman and the Persian empires. The Byzantine-Sasanian rivalry was also seen through their respective cultures and religions. The Byzantines were the champions of Hellenism and Christianity while the Sasanians thought themselves heroes of ancient Iranian traditions and of the traditional Persian religion - Zoroastrianism.

Meanwhile, down south we have the Arabian Peninsula which largely was and continued to be a dustbowl of little importance. The nomadic Bedouin tribes dominated the Arabian deserts where they worshiped idols and were organised into small clans based on mutual kinship. There were scant cities and agriculture in Arabia except for Mecca and Medina (then called Yathrib) which were important hubs for trade between Africa and Eurasia with most citizens there being merchants - this all will become important VERY SOON.

Right around 620-30s there arose a new ofshoot of abrahamic religions - Islam, and it would become big, really big. The details on Islam can be found on the respective [[Mythology|page]] or on the other wiki, but the religion blew up FAST and in some 40 years after it's inception managed to conquer whole of Arabia, Persia and vast swathes of Byzantine empire. An interesting thing about Islam is that it's prophet Mohammad was also a military and political leader and while Jesus or Buddha left us general ethical and metaphysical messages, Mohammad was around for a bit longer and proscribed social and political tenets to the faith which gave rise to the concept of a Caliphate - a theocratic social polity that was to be the way to run things. The conquest stopped in the 750s as the new Caliphate ran out of steam and the usual fracturing between successors began after Muhammad was unalived, but Islam had by this time profiled itself as the pre-eminent socio-political and religious force in the Middle East under the various dynasties of the Caliphates.

Shortly after Islam became the dominant religion in Arabia, the Muslim conquests expanded ''very'' rapidly east and west, spreading across all of North Africa and even into southern Europe, where they claimed the entirety of Spain for centuries and besieged large parts of Italy and France. The Byzantines and Franks successfully halted further expansion, but Caliphate still claimed enough territory to rival and eventually supersede the Byzantines. The wealth and power that came with it ensured that the formerly backwater state of Arabia would remain a powerhouse for years to come.

The Arabian islamic vanguard would continue to dominate the newly conquered and islamised lands for the next 300 years. When Muhammad introduced Islam it had a the effect of nearly erasing the other various Middle Eastern cultures, although it also inspired advances in architecture, science, technology, and the formation of a distinct way of life giving it overall a mixed heritage. Islam also created the need for spectacularly built mosques to flex on their Abrahamic siblings which also created a unique form of architecture. Meanwhile, missionaries and warriors worked to forcibly spread the religion from Arabia to North and Sudanic Africa, South and Southeast Asia, and the Mesopotamia area. This created a potent mix of cultures, especially in Africa. Lastly, the "People of the Book" (Christians, Jews, and Zoroastrians) were allowed to live although in second class conditions. This courtesy wasn't extended to members of polytheist religions or Buddhism, with those folks being given the option of convert or die. This period would be disrupted by two events - the arrival of Seljuks/Turks and the Crusades.

=== The Crusades (1000 - 1300) ===
In the 1000's, the Persians (now rebranded as the Seljuks) started some shit with the Byzantines that ultimately ended with them sacking Constantinople. Between the eastern armies crossing the Hellespont and the blocking of pilgrimages into Jerusalem was the last straw for Christendom, and war were declared, whereupon thousands of ambitious princes, mercenaries, fugitives, and fanatics swarmed to Venice, got on boats, and proceeded to invade Jerusalem, intending to take back the Holy Land for Christendom from the Mohammedans.

Individual crusades were met with varied success; the first Crusade successfully caught the Seljuks offguard and led to the creation of the so-called Crusader States, which lasted for about a hundred years. Then an Arab warlord named Saladin who broke off from the Seljuks successfully rallied the people of Egypt and Syria to reclaim Jerusalem; following this, several more crusades were waged by Europe to retake the city, none of which were successful. Several centuries of war ensued, and while the invaders from Europe won the occasional dramatic victory, they were eventually forced away, although it did end any aspirations of Islam forcing its culture upon Europe.

And as the stalwart defenders of Arabia stood on the coast of Palestine, watching the sun set on their retreating enemies, they suddenly heard behind them the cheers and horse hooves of a million GODDAMN MONGOLIANS.

[[image:Constantinople-from-the-entrance-thomas-allom.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Lots of ottomans there, also some Ottomans. ]]

=== Ottoman Period (1300 - 1918) ===
The Ilkhanate hordes of Tulai ultimately were held out of Arabia, although the Seljuks fell to them completely. But as has been established in many other articles featuring the Mongols, they weren't very good at REMAINING Mongol once they ran out of things to put arrows in; in this case they discovered Islam and for once decided that some outsider's religion was actually their kind of thing, probably having to do with a similar bloodthirstiness towards "the other". What succeeded them was the Ottoman empire. Over the next 500 years the Ottomans would largely reunite all of the former Roman territories east of Cisalpine Gaul, into a massive, mostly-Islamic caliphate held together by the Turks, Greeks, and Egyptians that formed its foundation.

The power that held the Ottomans together was the [[Space Marines|Janissaries]]. A Janissary was a Christian male from the Balkan areas of the Empire, forcibly conscripted in youth and forced to convert to Islam (including getting circumcised, since the conscriptees would have been mostly Orthodox), and then subjected to a rigorous military training that made them one of the most elite fighting forces of their time. They were forbidden to marry before forty, but were paid a lifetime salary. Although a brutal system, the resulting army was exceptionally professional, impartial to the empire's many tribes and territories, and utterly loyal to the Sultanate. The net effect of the Janissaries were that the individual animosities of various sects were dampened under Ottoman rule, in favor of the [[Tau|greater greed]] of the Sultanate.

For most of it's life, the Ottoman empire wasn't a terribly bad place to live if you were a Muslim. There was relative peace and prosperity due to flourishing trade as it stood at the crossroads between the Mediterranean and the sea routes to the far east. There was religious freedom as long as taxes were paid (except for non-monotheists) and all the wealth and luxuries of the world to be found in their markets. Interestingly, there were THREE separate, government sanctioned court systems, specifically one system for muslims, another for christians & jews, and the trade courts which handled civil and commercial disputes. The good times ended however when the Europeans discovered that it was slightly cheaper to sail all the fuck way around Africa than to pay Ottoman taxes.

[[image:ModernMiddleEast.jpg|thumb|300px|right|We've come a long way, eh sadiq?]]

=== Modern History (1918 - 20XX) ===
After Ottoman Empire was defeated and WW1 ended, French and Brits decided to screw their own Middle Eastern allies (as usual) and set up their own colonial regimes and puppet states, this was all but codified in the secret Sykes-Picot Agreement which created a bunch of artificial states that would all but guarantee that the region north of Saudi Arabia would remain a socio-political quagmire for many decades to come. Most notable ones are French Syria, British Palestine and Kuwait, as well as marionette Kingdom of Iraq. Saudi Arabia was also formed in that time period from old Arabian peninsula states, while Oman and Yemen became British puppets. This status quo remained all the way up to 1950s, even during WWII (well, if you don't count joint Allied intervention to Iran to prevent it from joining the Axis and get a new safe way for a land-lease, as well as short Iraqi campaign to weed out pro-Hitler Golden Square Party).

During the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s, Syria and Egypt made moves towards independence since the Sick Man of Bosphorus was fast dying of anachronism and lack of key reforms. Although the Kingdom of Egypt was technically "neutral" during World War II, Cairo soon became a major military base for the British and the country was occupied. In Palestine, a potent shitstorm was brewing as conflicting forces of Arab nationalism and Zionism created a situation the British could neither resolve nor gtfo from. The rise of Germany's Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party, who the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem told the idea of the Holocaust to, had created a new urgency in the Zionist quest to immigrate to Palestine and create a Jewish state.

The modern Middle East was primarily shaped by three factors - decolonisation as Europe just gave up on the overcomplicated region to deal with issues at home, the founding of the state of Israel with all the "FUN" that entailed, and the growing importance of this stinky slimy substance called oil. A further layer of complexity was added by the new [[Cold War]] order which saw the world's two remaining superpowers - the USA/NATO and USSR/Warsaw Pact take a keen interest in the region due to various opportunities to dick with each other and the region being the largest (then) known source of civilization-driving oil, with the U.S.A. supporting Israel's right to exist, and the Soviets supporting Palestine's wish to drive the Jews into the sea, figuring they could finish off the Jews and have one less religion they'd have to finish off themselves if they could conquer the Middle East.

After the end of the [[Cold War]] the region experienced some notable changes. It allowed large numbers of Jews in USSR to gtfo from Russia and Ukraine into Israel - further bolstering the Jewish state. It also cut off the easiest source of weapons and loans from USSR meant to oppose pro-western regimes and lastly opened up the prospect of cheap oil from Russia, driving down the price of black gold and reducing the west's dependence on oil from the Arab states. In 1990 the Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein initiated an invasion of oil-rich arab state of Kuwait which lead to the USA having a permanent presence in the Persian Gulf and the Middle East by extension.

Fast forward some ten years and the greatest geopolitical fuckup since the fall of the USSR hit as USA saw the greatest attack on it's soil since the bloody Revolutionary War of the 1770s when a bunch of Al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked some planes and ramed them into the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon, killing some 3000 Americans and wounding about 25000. Suffice it to say that the US was PISSED and soon invaded the country held to harbour the hoodlums - Afghanistan. The 9/11 attacks saw the USA focus it's geopolitical attention to the Middle East for the next 20-ish years as it dicked around in Iraq and Afghanistan. After the Arab Spring which saw an astounding wave of social upheavals from Morocco to Yemen - Syria also turned into a quagmire as the country found itself as a battleground between USA, resurgent Russia, Turkey, Israel and the infamous Islamic State/ISIS/ISIL.

As of the New 20s the situation in the Middle East seems to be returning to something resembling normality, which means a bunch of simmering conflicts between the usual suspects with a few flareups. This is mostly due to USA and Russia shifting their focus to the events going on in Eastern Europe. Meanwhile, China has been busy investing in the countries on the eastern fringes of the region (Pakistan, Uzbekistan and Iran to a lesser degree). The Arabian peninsula has seen some fighting too as Yemen imploded and became a proxy for Saudi Arabian and Iranian dick-slapping contest. The region is still in flux so stay tuned for further developments.

== Middle Eastern Culture ==

In general, Middle Eastern and Central Asian cultures in the region can be split into Semitic (Hebrew, Syriac, Arab, Berber, etc), Iranic (Persian, Farsi, Tajik, Baloch, etc), and Turkic (Azeri, Kazakh, Uzbek, etc) alongside related/historically related groups on the outer edges of the region (such as the Caucasus-inhabiting Armenians or Georgians and the Urdu-Hindi groups in [[India]] in the former case or the Kushans, Scythians, Huns, & Mongols in the latter case). The long history of the region means many of the cultures and ethnic groups have long histories of contact and intermingling with each other with both peaceful and violent interactions with each other like in the European Balkans.

== Middle Eastern Religion, Gods and Mythology ==

More than any other region, the Middle East is indelibly linked to the history of monotheism. Greek and Egyptian polytheistic systems coexisted alongside Persian Zoroastrianism and the Abrahamic Hebrew and many other minor sects. All of which were subjugated in the successive conquests of Alexander, and then Rome behind him.

The Romans acted as a great plow, tilling the region and leaving all the minor tribes and faiths fertile for proselytization. And the winner of this great disruption was Abrahamism, which stomped out most of its competitors (ie, the Gnostics). Christianity rose in lockstep with opposition to Roman rule, and then Islam in turn followed it as a response to the void as the empire fell, and finally eastern orthodoxy as the Catholic church began to schism.

By 1100 AD, the following could be said:

* Islam commanded the majority of the region, with the Shia branch being strongest in old Persia and the Sunni being dominant pretty much everywhere else. The Ibadi moderate spinoffs from the Khawarij zeaots who attacked both sides were restricted to Oman with small pockets in the Sahara.
* Orthodox Christians (in Coptic, Assyrian and Greek flavors) were entrenched as minorities in the old Greek colonies north of Arabia, in Assyrian region (yes, the nation is still there, but is very small now) and in Egypt.
* Zoroastrianism and Judaism were entrenched as minorities all over, with some concentration in their respective homelands of Persia and Jerusalem respectively.
* Polytheism in the Middle East, in all of its Egyptian, Hellenistic, Babylonian, and Indo-Aryan (yes, the same root pantheon that the Germanic, Hellenistic, and pre-Brahmic/Hindu pantheons came from but that’s a whole different story) flavors, was extinct.

== Middle Eastern Magic ==

The Middle East has its fair share of supernatural folklore such as the Djinn, ghouls, Shedu, Magi, etc. In addition, no thanks to Alexander the Great’s conquest of the region, alongside the long rule of the Diadochi, the Silk Road, and the Mongol invasions, meant that the Central Asian and Middle Eastern region served as a melting pot for ideas to be exchanged and and syncretized. One example being the conflation of Heracles from the Greco-Batrian settlers with the guardian bodhisattva, Vajrapāṇi, in Buddhism. On the other hand, once monotheism became dominant in the Middle East proper, such theological exchanges lessoned out with the focus being on philosophical, economic, and scientific exchanges instead.

==Middle East Analogs in Fantasy==

* [[Araby]] (duh), [[Badlands]] (in geographical sense) and [[Darklands]] (culturally) in [[Warhammer Fantasy Battle]].
* [[Tallarn Desert Raiders]] Regiment of [[Imperial Guard]] in [[Warhammer 40,000]].
* [[Al-Qadim]] campaign setting from [[DnD]]
* Near Harad from [[Lord of the Rings]]
* Prince of Persia series of vidya
* Shaqqislam factions in [[Infinity]]
* The Imperium (both the Empires ruled by the Corrino and Atreides Dynasties) in [[Dune]]

[[Category: History]]

BattleTech

2022-05-04T19:53:38Z

2607:FB90:6FF4:7A06:D087:A795:6215:797A: /* Wars of Reaving */

{{awesome}}
[[Image:NEW-BT-LOGOFLAT.png|NEW-BT-LOGOFLAT.png|center]]
{{Game Infobox
|name = BattleTech
|picture = [[Image:NEW-BT-LOGOFLAT.png|200px]]
|type = [[Wargame]]
|publisher = [[Catalyst Game Labs]]
|playno = Billions
|year = 1984
|books = Total Warfare or The BattleMech Manual
}}
{{topquote|It is the 31st century, a time of endless wars that rage across human-occupied space. As star empires clash, these epic wars are won and lost by BattleMechs, 23-56 foot tall humanoid metal titans bristling with lasers, autocannons and dozens of other lethal weapons; enough firepower to level entire city blocks. Your elite force of MechWarriors drives these juggernauts into battle, proudly holding your faction's flag high, intent on expanding the power and glory of your realm. At their beck and call are the support units of armored vehicles, power armored infantry, aerospace fighters and more, wielded by a MechWarrior's skillful command to aid him in ultimate victory. Will they become legends, or forgotten casualties? Only your skill and luck will determine their fate!|Product promotional tagline}}

'''BattleTech''', or '''MechWarrior''' as most of the non-neckbearded populace know it, is a tabletop wargame about armies of giant robots fighting one another for honor, money, and territory in a far-distant feudal future. Think [[Star Wars]] AT-STs, or [[Warhammer 40,000]]'s [[Imperial Knight|Imperial Knights]] (Games Workshop decided they liked Battlemechs too). It’s also perhaps the most realistic example of walker warfare. Using their size to mount sufficient energy generation and armor that they are fast enough, maneuverable enough, and armored enough that being a bullet magnet does not matter. Using their vertical build to mount numerous huge weapons that each would take up all the space on most tanks modern militaries would consider super-heavy. Usually operating in combined arms warfare and supported by tanks, hovercraft, aircraft, and infantry. Not sinking into the ground like its quicksand because dirt reaches maximum compression very quickly (and thus all anti-mech arguments are rendered invalid by combined arms, armor, power-plant, firepower, and actual science), and so on. The realism of the technology (if not the moronic House Lords and nonsensical events) is so great it could be a glimpse into the future. Y’know, before Bolos come along and replace everything.

This article is mostly concerned with the fluff and story of Battletech. If you're looking for a guide to getting into the game in the first place, check out [[Starting Battletech]].

==Holy Crap, Giant Robots Are Awesome==
[[Image:Batdroid.jpg|thumb|right|''Battledroids'', the first edition of the game, c. 1984. A ''literally''-textbook example on how to get sued nine different ways from Sunday.]]
In the early 1980s, [[Jordan Weisman]] was [[Weeaboo|fascinated]] by several Japanese [[anime]] involving giant robots, or "[[mecha]]." He was quoted as saying that he liked the designs and idea of giant robots fighting on the battlefield, but did not have a taste for the storylines that the Japanese wrote about them. In 1984, Weisman founded [[FASA]] and acquired the licenses to designs from several series, the most famous being ''Super Dimension Fortress Macross,'' though the largest portion came from ''Fang of the Sun Dougram'' and combined them to make Battletech.

The first edition of this game, called ''Battledroids'', was a hex-based boardgame played on a battlefield illustrated with various types of terrain. It came with two large plastic minis of featured mechs, imported from Japan. Initially, sales were mediocre as the sheer size of the mechs made them awkward in gameplay. Soon after the launch of ''Battledroids'' Lucasfilm filed a lawsuit against FASA for using the name "droids," which they had trademarked in 1978. Discretion being the better part of valor, FASA changed the name of the game to Battlemech in time for the second edition printing in 1986. This time, cardboard stand-ins replaced the plastic miniatures, and a tradition was born. To this day, Battletech can be played without purchasing any physical models and with any proxy you please.

Following the release of the second edition, fans of the game clamored for new miniatures. FASA obliged, rescaling their mechs for more convenient play and designing a host of in-house mechs to broaden variety and bridge the gap between the sleek Macross and crude Dougram designs. New models notwithstanding, the third edition, dubbed ''Battletech,'' was shipped with solely Macross- and Dougram-based minis. However, in 1995 [[That Guy|Harmony]] [[Rage|Gold]], an American localization company which had licensed the international distribution and toy rights to SDF Macross, issued a C&D against FASA for the use of all mecha designs from the Macross franchise. FASA ceased production of these miniatures, which were among the most popular designs in the franchise, and published a fourth edition of the game in 1996 again featuring cardboard tokens, which were all based on their own original mechs.

Before '''''Battletech''''', the mecha genre was seen as something that belonged mostly to the Japanese. With few exceptions (''Power Rangers'' and ''Star Wars'', and even then the Mechs from the former were reused footage from Japanese shows), the genre was almost entirely made up of anime productions imported from Japan. Battletech pioneered a new approach to mecha within the Western fandom, featuring mostly stories of pseudo-realistic wars fought by real soldiers rather than teenagers taking on forces of evil or single-handedly winning interplanetary wars, plots that dominated the few mecha series that were subbed by the dedicated VHS fansubbers of the day. More importantly, the physical limitations of the Battlemechs, unlike the limitations of tanks in, say, [[Warhammer 40,000]], are critical to the planning and strategy of outfitting mechs and using them on the tabletop.

===The Mechs===
{{topquote|"Shoot for his cockpit! [[Iron Hands|Kill the meat]], [[Adeptus Mechanicus|save the metal.]]"|Sergeant Robert "Deadeye" Unther (Mechwarrior 2: Mercenaries - Training Tutorial)}}
BattleTech mechs function and are utilized more like tanks with legs than the super-agile flying mecha common in Japanese depictions. Mechs are deployed in formations of four or five, called lances in the Inner Sphere and stars in the Clans. They are able to operate in space, on planets with caustic atmospheres, underwater, and in a wide range of temperatures that would be lethal to unprotected humans. One of the biggest upsides of mechs as combat vehicles is their extreme efficiency-of-arms: an effectively limitless amount of time without requiring fuel due to their fusion reactors alongside hyper-efficient Myomer 'muscles' inside the Battlemech’s limbs that can carry more weapons and armor per-ton than any other combat platform in existence. The only things stopping a mech from being able to fight forever are ammunition, repairs, and allowing the pilot to rest. Even when a mech is destroyed, losing the pilot is a relatively rare occurrence thanks to very effective ejection systems. A destroyed mech chassis can also be salvaged and rebuilt to fight another day, good as new. In the early 3000s setting this means many mechs are often decades or even hundreds of years old, Ship of Theseus-style. Some mechs even have unique identities and/or affiliations with certain royal Houses or mercenary families. Also, as stated in the quote above, it's not uncommon for cash-strapped mercenaries, pirates, or even planetary militia to prioritize aiming for the cockpit and/or forcing Mechwarriors to eject from overheating/battle damage in order to claim the surviving Battlemech wreckage for salvage or as a spoil of war.

As far as locomotion styles, bipedal mechs are the most common, with the weapon systems mounted either in the torso compartments or on the arms. Quadrupedal mechs do exist but are relatively rare, they are slower than bipedal mechs and don't offer the same amount of weapon space for a given weight class and more legs (and more everything else) on a mech means, of course, greater expenses. Even rarer are tripod mechs, generally restricted to experimental super-heavy designs. Bipedal mechs can also grasp things in their hands (if they have them) like melee weapons or pesky tanks. Early versions of BattleTech feature mechs that could transform into fighter planes, but these were dropped relatively quickly in its life cycle due to copyright problems.

The main downside of mechs is their inability to efficiently manage heat buildup. Heat is generated by the fusion reactor, the environment, movement, and mostly as a result of firing weapons. Mechs mount multiple gigantic one-ton heatsink units to deal with this buildup, but it is a constant problem for pilots to manage. Mechs that feature a lot of energy-based weapons will generate especially high levels of heat, and therefore manage very poorly in extremely hot environments. Firing all the weapons of certain mech variants at once (the ''Nova'' mech is most infamous) can cause it to overheat to such an extent that the reactor core melts down before the heatsinks can shunt the heat out of the chassis, which is bad. Safety measures that shut down the entire mech when it reaches a certain temperature threshold are always installed, but since this usually happens in a combat situation, and thus leaves the mech defenseless, some pilots will intentionally disable the safeguards to take their chances. Depending on the technology level of a given game, more efficient heatsinks can be assigned to mechs that remove heat more quickly and allow hotter builds. The fluff also mentions some experimental heatsinks that changed the heat energy to light (<strike>???</strike>Actually plausible, we have been experimenting with this concept irl) but had the downside of making the mech look like a walking rave, as well as heatsinks that utilized caustic liquids to move heat faster but with a limited lifespan.

Weapons consist of three general categories: ballistic, energy, and missile. Each has its own strengths and weakness: ballistic weapons weigh more, require ammo, but do not generate much heat, energy weapons are the opposite, and missiles generate some heat/consume ammo but can be indirectly fired with targeting data from scouts. Outfitting a mech for the proper engagement is key to obtaining victory: mechs outfitted for mech-to-mech combat will generally mount only high-damage weapons with lower ammo counts and slower rates of fire, while mechs set for vehicle and infantry combat will mount weapons that fire quickly but do lower damage per shot. Likewise, mechs that do not expect steady resupply will mount more energy weapons so they are not beholden to ammo counts.

Mechs range between 20 to 100 tons in four weight classes, though a few experimental units lie outside these ranges. The weight classes are light (20-35), medium (40-55), heavy (60-75), and assault (80-100). Considering their size (23-56 feet), that's pretty light; the Maus (33 feet long and 11 feet high) mega-tank that Adolf Hitler demanded weighed 188 tons. (One possible explanation here is that the "tonnage" in a weight class isn't the weight of the mech, but rather the weight available to mount things on the chassis. So an Atlas assault mech has 100 tons of available space for reactor, life support, weapons, armor etc, explaining why various sub-types of a mech drop something and replace it with something else of equal weight. A Flea light mech has 20 tons). Rarer still are super heavy mechs (with weights between 110 to 200 tons). While they are walking fortresses that put even Assault Mechs to shame, they tend to be ridiculously expensive, extremely slow, have issues with supporting that weight, are vulnerable to attacks from swarms of smaller enemies like tanks, and have difficulty installing reactors with sufficient power. Top sustainable speeds of mechs vary from 32.4 kph (20 mph) for the assault ''Annihilator'' to 162 kph (101 mph) for the light ''Firemoth'' scout. Keep in mind that the American M1A1 Abrams tank has a top speed of 72 kph (45 mph) on a paved road and much less crossing difficult terrain. Mechs can also be mounted with rechargeable jump jets that give them the ability to hop across the battlefield or up/down terrain. According to varying fluff depictions, mechs are even able to climb up/down cliff walls and perform flying dropkicks to enemy cockpits, which is awesome.

Depending on where in the timeline the specific game takes place (this is a player choice), there will be two possible classes of mechs: [[BattleMech]]s and [[OmniMech]]s. Battlemechs are the older style, with a set number of variants that cannot be changed in the field. This style was universal in the Inner Sphere before the arrival of the Clans. Omnimechs, a Clan invention, feature a modular construction style and a snap-on software integration which gives them the freedom of changing loadouts quickly. For example, a ''Dragon'' Battlemech comes in a default configuration consisting of one LRM-10, one Autocannon/5, and two medium lasers. The 1C variant replaces the Autocannon/5 with an Autocannon/2 and more armor, while the 5N upgrades the Autocannon/5 to an Ultra Autocannon/5. A pilot must use one of these variants and is incapable of changing the loadout without serious hours-long reworking of the mech's internals in a Mech maintenance facility. Conversely, a ''Mad Dog'' Omnimech comes with a default configuration of two LRM-20s, two medium pulse lasers, and two large pulse lasers. A pilot is able to modify this loadout as they see fit within less than an hour with a technical team, say dropping the two medium pulse lasers for more missile ammo/armor or changing the LRMs to SRMs for short-range engagements.

Like most Western sci-fi series, Battlemechs are somewhat inspired by real theoretical technologies; their weapons range from machine guns (albeit very big ones) and missiles, to coilguns and particle accelerators. The biggest leaps from reality (aside from FTL travel and communications) are the fusion reactor, (a technology still only theoretically possible,) the neurohelmet, (which interfaces with the pilot's brain and keeps the mech upright based on the pilot's own sense of balance,) and the massive muscle-like Myomer fibers that actually allow the mech to move upon being exposed to electrical current.

While Battlemechs dominate the battlefields of Battletech, armored vehicles still have a place. Most of the time, tanks, hovercraft, and APCs are used where mechs would be too expensive (or too advanced) to maintain, or in roles where a mech would be ineffective. This means that, in addition to Battlemechs, one can find infantry, vehicles, aerial vehicles, naval vehicles, and spaceships. It is worth noting that vehicles can be a real threat to Battlemechs in great enough numbers, since they mount the same weapons as mechs. Some tanks can also push the 100-ton limit and sport the gigantic weaponry usually mounted on an Assault mech chassis. In other words, where mechs are [[Space Marines]], the vehicles are more akin to [[Eldar]] Aspects.

Mechs in BattleTech fiction also have a curious tendency to go up in a mini nuclear explosion when their reactor core is breached by weapon fire. Mushroom clouds, explosions, heat, radiation, the whole bit. This has been nicknamed "stackpoling" after BattleTech novel author Michael Stackpole, who includes at least one of these events in each novel he writes. If the reactor was actually breached, what should happen is a meltdown of the reactor (and probably some chunks of the surrounding mech) that quickly burns out because the reactor can't maintain the fusion reaction without proper containment. Reactors are generally incapable of generating an actual nuclear explosion: real-world reactor "explosions" are usually a result of the coolant flash-overheating and generating a pressure-based steam explosion that destroys the reactor building. Lingering radiation would still be a problem of course, but that is usually handwaved away in BattleTech fluff or not mentioned at all.

To get into the actual science of this, a hypothetical fusion reactor wouldn't produce that many radioactive substances. And what few they do would be relatively short lived and would be weak beta emitters. The most likely substance would be Tritium, which is where the stereotypical glow in the dark green radiation comes from. The Mech would glow in the dark but a decent decontamination process would render it mostly harmless. In other words, the stories are right for the wrong reasons.

More on actual science. A containment breach would produce a pretty big explosion. The reactor (assuming H+H fusion, which seems reasonable since we never hear anything about deuterium or H3 mining) would be operating at something close to 15,000,000K temperature and 250,000,000,000 atmospheres of pressure to induce fusion. Assuming there's a couple of cubic meters of gas being contained at those pressures by magnetic fields and surrounded by a few more cubic meters of vacuum, a sudden and catastrophic loss of containment would almost certainly cause an explosion that would cause a mushroom cloud and be easy to mistake for a small nuclear weapon.

==Warfare in the Thirty-first Century==

When somebody decides to attack another world, they load up their 'Mechs (and tanks, and infantry, etc...) onto massive shuttles called DropShips. These boost off into space and link up with Jumpships, semi-mobile Space-Fold drives sitting a ways out into the star's system (due to the limits of BattleTech FTL, Jumpships can't get any closer to a system's star than a radius roughly around the orbit of Saturn in the Sol System. For simplicity's sake, most Jumpships move to the zenith or nadir points directly "above" or "below" the star's orbital plane). The Dropships latch onto the Jumpships, which make a series of jumps from star to star until they reach the target system.

Compared to some sci-fi franchises such as Star Wars or Star Trek, aerospace combat between ships isn’t really that common for several reasons. For one, KF Drive used to propel Jumpships (all of which can’t land on a planet) makes up 95% of its mass and leaves little room for anything else besides Dropship docking ports, basic ship equipment, crew quarters, and the Jumpsail used for recharging the drive. And while Warships do exist with drives half the size as their civilian models, the drives alone are more than five times more expensive to build and are prioritized for only strategically vital missions like real-life Dreadnoughts. In that regard, Battletech’ Jumpships are closer to Dune’s massive but ungainly Heighliners than Star War’s Star Destroyers. As a result, most aerospace combat is dominated by armed Dropships or aerospace fighters. Orbital bombardments and naval blockades are a thing but not typically used frequently due to how much firepower is required for a planetary scale.

Once they reach the target, the Dropships detach from the Jumpships and burn deeper into the system towards the planet. Now Jumpships aren't stealthy, so anyone on the target planet likely detected their entrance into the system, and it typically takes Dropships seven days (varies dramatically for each star system) to reach the planet. Surprise attacks are nearly impossible, and defenders will have up to a week to get ready (some clever or smart people try to shave time by trying to match the target world's orbit with a nonstandard point closer to the planet, or even rare "Pirate" points caused by gravity interactions between celestial bodies, but even this usually gives defenders at least a day to prepare, not to mention the hilarious habit of Pirate points to just mangle dropships attempting to use them beyond recognition). Of course, these aren’t actually rare and we have quite a number of them around Earth, the moon, and every other celestial body including the sun. So close that by BattleTech standards it would take probably just a few minutes to reach the Earth from one of its own null gravity points. Seeing as their dropships can reach Sol's top or bottom null-G in just a few days.

As the invading force reaches planetary orbit, the defenders will usually try to intercept them with their own defensive ships, usually Dropships, Shuttles, Aerospace Fighters, and Conventional Fighters (like the [['Mechbuster]]) while the Attackers will launch fighters of their own. Space battle will begin in earnest as the defenders try to keep the enemy from landing on world at all (FASA originally had two separate games, Aerotech and Battlespace, that dealt with this stage of combat, but current BattleTech rules incorporate Aerospace combat for those who prefer it or want the full Theater of War experience).

If the Attackers can break through orbit, they can choose their landing site (usually near the target of course). The enemy will deploy to stop them and battle begins in earnest with ground combat typically consisting of combined arms use of infantry, battle armored troops, conventional armored vehicles, artillery, and BattleMechs. Meanwhile, any air assets in the form of aerospace or conventional fighters will duke it out to secure air superiority for shipping reinforcements via air drop or trying to take out enemy ground units from above.

==Fluff==
[[File:Mad_Cat.jpg|300px|thumb|right|The [[Timber Wolf]] (Mad Cat if you're <s>Inner Sphere</s> <s>Freebirth Scum</s> Degrazi), one of the most iconic BattleMechs in the series.]]
{{topquote|''A thousand horrid Prodigies foretold it.
A feeble government, eluded Laws,
A factious Populace, luxurious Nobles,
And all the maladies of stinking states.''|Dr. Samuel "What The Fuck Am I Reading" Johnson}}
Much like [[Games Workshop|Warhammer]], the Battletech franchise has an extensive expanded universe. Dozens of books, numerous spinoff games, video games in multiple genres, and even an animated cartoon have delved into the setting and created an entertaining, if convoluted, history that has real influences on how the game is played. Unlike Warhammer, there are no [[Xenos]] (outside of some cavemen-like species), so humans get all the glory (and blame).

===History of the Inner Sphere===
After a period of typical [[Cold War]]-era speculative history: in details, the Soviet leadership is inherited by a fictional hardliner in the 80s and the Union survives until the 2010s where it splits in the Second Soviet Civil War (this was retconned in as the game was made when the USSR hadn't collapsed yet). The appointment of a hardliner leads to NATO reforming into the Western Alliance along with the proto-EU. The Western Alliance helps the split post-Soviet Eurasian states, is joined by China and other Asian countries after a brief crisis and eventually mankind was mostly united under the Western Alliance, having renamed itself to the Terran Alliance and discovered how to travel faster-than-light by opening up artificial wormholes. By 2235, most of mankind's interstellar colonies, already mistrustful of the heavy-handed Alliance, threw off the yoke of the Alliance in the "'''Outer Reaches Rebellion'''" and formed their own stellar nation-states. What followed was a period of war and chaos which led to the rise of the "'''Great Houses'''," feudal dynasties of powerful families adhering to various pseudo-historical ideals (like Kurita's Japan fetishism, specifically the most evil aspects of WWII Japan and every other Asian countries' worst parts of their histories up to eleven) competing for total dominance of mankind. However Terra, as Earth became known after its Latin name, remained the most technologically-advanced star nation, and remained unconquered by the competing Great Houses who turned their focus on one another instead. Shortly after the eve of this "'''Age of War'''" once the Terran Alliance left the far-off colonies to fend for themselves, the Terran Alliance’s bickering political parties were subject to a coup by the charismatic Admiral James McKenna with support from the populace. He reformed the Alliance into the Terran Hegemony and eventually, his titles were inherited by a distant cousin in House Cameron. In addition, both the colonies and Terra began placing more emphasis on nobility-based peerage to handle planetary governance, education, and manufacturing instead of the loathed vote-buying that defined the corrupt Alliance. This is one of the reasons for the severe technological stagnation that is a hallmark of the Battletech universe. After all, any idiot knows that destroying a factory or all of a certain factory production and all such factories means the knowledge of how to build their products magically disappears and the knowledge of how to build those factories poofed away the moment they were built anyway as that is the only explanation conceivable for why destroyed factories were not simply replaced and why the knowledge disappeared from every paper, computer, and mind; after all, universities and libraries can still preserve knowledge while remaining civilian institutions. Obviously space magic is to blame...or exceptionally short-sighted writers who’ll wave it off as [[Medieval Stasis |neo-feudalism in space]]. The main reason for the lack of tech was due to the Terran Hegemony hoarding most of the good tech for themselves and the Star League Defence Force. ER Lasers, XL Fusion engines, Pulse Lasers and so on were all SLDF exclusives, and the vast majority of advanced tech was only produced in the Terran Hegemony, which was utterly wrecked in the [[Amaris Civil War]]. Universities and libraries were nuked alongside military targets, and the Battletech universe lacks a true internet expy, making dissemenating information even by HPG a slow, expensive process. Any advanced tech factories or research institutes left after the Amaris Civil War vanished in the nuclear firestorm of the First Succession War. It took 80 years of more or less constant warfare before the great houses decided that blowing up civillian targets wasn't such a good idea. AND THEN, Comstar decided that nobody but them should have nice things so they started assassinating anyone who might make things better and stealing their research. Nobody really bothered trying to build a new university for actual research until 3015, when the Davions built the NAIS and the moment it looked like the NAIS might actually make some progress in reversing the technological decline, Comstar tried to blow it up. They failed, and the Federated Suns figuring out that Comstar was behind the attack marked the start of the decline in Comstar's influence.

To be clear, the given reason for how the neo-feudalism came about was due to oppression, social inertia, and interstellar communication lag. Before the invention of the HPG in 2630 (5 centuries after the KF Drive) it took weeks and months for planets to send updates on their status to their national capital and the entirety of the nation. Yet other than the Federated Suns good bois and to an extent the Lyran Commonwealth, most other nations don't have the same problems that destroyed the Alliance despite being oppressive. Super oppressive. Which begs one to question how the hell the Outer Reaches Rebellion happened outside of the same tension that tore the Star League apart later. And it still doesn't explain how the neo-feudalism came about as it would make much more sense to have technocratic administrators selected by merit to manage regions of space instead of giving someone and their offspring the level of authority an ancient noble would have had. Perhaps it began the same way some monarchies are known to have: lords (or whatever name for a rose you want to use) being basically miniature kings of their local areas who united and elected a royal dynasty from among their number to handle external affairs beyond their national borders.

In 2349, the Terran Hegemony introduced the first Battlemech, the 100-ton ''Mackie'', and the face of war changed forever.

===Mechs Just Got Real===
The introduction of the ''Mackie'' shifted the focus of military development away from interstellar Warships back to ground forces. The Terran Hegemony was able to prove that the 100-ton Battlemech was far superior to conventional ground vehicles (interestingly, the Terran Hegemony's main battle tank was <s>the Israeli Merkava</s> named Merkava but utterly unrelated to the Israeli tank of the same name), allowing a single man to destroy formations of opposing non-Mechs. Of course, the rest of the Inner Sphere wanted the same capability, and in 2355 the plans for the Battlemech were stolen (as usual, the writers don’t realize that stealing a design is pointless if you don’t know how to build all the parts...like myomer (Myomer that was already a popular material throughout the Inner Sphere, used in the IndustrialMechs before the Mackie was even a concept). ). The Age of the Battlemech had begun.

During the next hundred years, as the Great Houses vied for supremacy and founded the nucleus of the future Successor States, the Terran Hegemony was able to exert great influence as the most technologically-advanced and neutral of the great powers. This would lead to the creation of the '''''Star League''''' in 2571, a grand union of all of humanity's interstellar nations. While ostensibly created for the purpose of uniting mankind and keeping the peace between the stars, it was also a massive power play by Terra to secure the raw materials it needed to maintain its technological edge and once more bring mankind under Terra's dominion. In keeping with the feudal society that now dominated mankind's worlds, the position of First Lord of the Star League was invested in Terra's ruling House, the Cameron dynasty.

While Hidden Wars would plague the Star League throughout its reign, no conflicts were fought between its members as long as the Star League Defense Force kept the peace between factions. Terra's hoard of advanced technologies were shared freely among the worlds of man, and a new Golden Age descended. It all came to an end in 2766. The last of the Camerons was assassinated by Stefan Amaris, a power-hungry politician from the Periphery, the ring of interstellar nations that had refused to join the Star League and had been conquered for their trouble. Claiming the mantle of Emperor of the Star League and Director-General of the Terran Hegemony, Amaris was immediately denounced by the commander of the SLDF, Aleksandr Kerensky.

===A New Dark Age===
[[File:Aleksandr Kerensky.jpg|thumb|right|"Fuck you guys, I'm out." - Aleksandr Kerensky, Great Father of Clans]]
The [[Amaris Civil War]] destroyed the League, and led to a new Dark Age. The Great Houses, throwing off their loyalty to Terra, refused to aid either Amaris or Kerensky, and waited for the war to pass. Kerensky emerged the victor, but with the Cameron dynasty ended the other Great Houses began to vie for position of First Lord of the Star League. Disgusted by the politicking and betrayal, in 2784 Kerensky took the greater portion of the SLDF into exile beyond the Periphery. Those who remained pledged their loyalty to the Star League's last civil authority, the Ministry of Communication, which would later become Comstar, the sole provider of internet connections between worlds. Thus the Star League lost its last measure of power, and the Great Houses began the First Succession War.

[[Succession Wars|Four Succession Wars]], over the course of two centuries, would follow. Never would a Great House gain enough strength to declare itself master of mankind, especially since none would ever conquer Terra. Technology would [[Imperium of Man|stagnate and regress]], creating the Lostech phenomenon, technology which mankind could no longer reproduce, maintain, or even understand. Where before feudalism had been a political phenomenon, hundreds of worlds across the Inner Sphere regressed to or below the technological level of the 20th Century, and hundreds more in the Periphery failed entirely. The sole bright spot was [[Adeptus Mechanicus|Comstar]], the corporate religious entity which maintained the Hyper Pulse Generator network that enabled FTL communications between inhabited worlds. Comstar became the rulers of Terra in the wake of the Star League's collapse, and leveraged their control of the HPG network to ensure their inviolability in exchange for maintaining the incomprehensible HPG networks and neutral treatment of all communications between worlds. In order to maintain their power, they would actively [[Grimdark|sabotage, headhunt, or kill]] all promising technological advancements and promising scientists to maintain their monopoly and techno-religious authority. To be fair, unlike a certain [[Adeptus Mechanicus|cargo cult]], ComStar intervened because they realized the Great Houses were psychopaths and couldn’t be allowed to advance. Also, they were actually loyal-ish to the Star League and hated the Great Houses.

Eventually the Inner Sphere would stabilize around the Great Houses and their associated stellar empires. However, technological progress remained stagnant, and the rare factories capable of producing such advanced technologies as Battlemechs became critical components in the shattered military-industrial complexes of the so-called Successor States. Millions would die so that an LED monitor factory could be taken by one side, or so that a hundred precision-machined laser lenses could be plundered from a forgotten SLDF armory. Real progress towards recovery could only be made after large caches of information which survived the fall of the Star League were recovered; the most significant were the recovery of a long-lost Star League university's library in 3013, and the recovery and free dissemination of the contents of the Helm Memory Core in 3028. In 3028, the two largest and most powerful Successor States, the Federated Suns and the Lyran Commonwealth, were united by dynastic marriage, and it seemed that a new Golden Age might be only decades away.

But the Inner Sphere had forgotten all about Kerensky's exodus, and nobody wants ''Peace'' to break out in a wargame setting, soooo...

===Suddenly Clannerscum===
Kerensky and his followers first settled on the Pentagon Worlds, where they tried to start a new society and a new Star League. They failed though, and the wars erupted between the worlds, showing the bitter irony of life. Kerensky tried to move on, but suffered a heart attack, and the leadership was overtaken by his son, Nicholas Kerensky (who unlike his father had hair and was probably a closet [[furry]]). Nicholas took the remaining followers with him to a planet he called "Dream Land" and established the twenty original Clans.

The Clans are a tribal society that is divided into five castes - Warriors (religious and political leaders and soldiers), Scientists (less respected but are considered highly important), Merchants (detested and only kept as a necessity), Technicians (engineers and warriors' servants), and Laborers (serfs, repressed as needed). Although during the birth each child is tested for their relevance to a certain caste, but more often than not are the same as their parents. Speaking of which, Clanners strongly believe in eugenics, and most of the Warrior Caste members are genetically enhanced clones/mashups. Other castes are selectively bred by the instructions from Science Caste. On a positive side it would mean that even [[neckbeard|neckbeards]] would end up breeding (though given the Clan's brutal meritocracy/kratocracy, they'd end up as outcasts in the Bandit Caste). On the other hand, the society has only a few acceptable non-technical forms of information, meaning that there really is no reason for there to be neckbeards. Paradoxes aside, Clans were created towards efficiency, and even their language differs from the one used in the Inner Sphere. Clans constantly compete in everything, from combat to technological prowess, as they foresaw their return to the Inner Sphere and its liberation. (By their hands, of course. And logically resulting in their control.)

And that day was not far off. Unfortunately for the Inner Sphere, Comstar never forgot about Kerensky's Exodus and sent exploration vessels out to sniff out their trail and reclaim lost Star League outposts on the side. When the Clans captured one of the expeditions, they believed that the Inner Sphere would invade the Pentagon worlds. Ironically, the Clans used that as an excuse to [[Clan Invasion|return and invade]] before being forced back by the very invasion they were trying to prevent.

A prophecy of days far off, the '''''ilClan''''' is a religious myth that states that someday a Clan will take control of Terra, the Cradle of Humanity. The Khan (leader) of the Clan of Clans which captures Terra will become the new, true ilKhan (Khan of Khans) and re-establish the Star League, over which their blood shall reign in perpetuity. All will be Clan, Clan will be all.

'''''ilClan''''' is also an [[Skub|abortive Battletech rulebook]] that has been in the works since '''2002''', ever since the '''Dark Age''' Era was published. Ostensibly intended to be the next historical Era, featuring all new rules to reflect the dominance of Clan society and technology, the bankruptcies and sales that Battletech went through stalled all development. In addition, most fans are [[Advancing the Storyline|vehemently opposed to the destruction of most of the factions]] in the game, and have spoken up at every opportunity to denounce the plans behind ilClan. A prank release of a provisional ilClan historical outline drew tremendous outcry and Catalyst Game Labs has subsequently decided to focus on rereleasing and updating older Era rulesets.

===Meanwhile, In The Inner Sphere===
...Of course, when the Clans returned to the Inner Sphere with the intent of liberating it from the feuding Great Houses, those same great houses <s>said "okay" and handed over the reins</s> put aside their differences and fought the Clans to a stand-still. This was an incredible show of camaraderie, and the most cooperative the houses had been since the Star League fell. It was all quite touching, really.

Okay, not really. The Clan invasion was getting bogged down and while they were making progress towards Terra it seemed like the new normal would be just constant unending war because they couldn't manage to put any of the successors away for good. ComStar, the self-serving treacherous pricks that they are, decided that something needed to be done and so made the Clans a bet. The deal was, come to Tukayyid and fight our best in one big PROVE YOUR WORTH honorduel smackup. If the Clans won, ComStar would stab all the successors in the back, disconnect their HPG access and throw the doors to Terra wide open. If ComStar won, the Clans would agree to a fifteen year armistice.

The Clans, being honourable glory-seeking meatheads, agreed and converged on Tukayyid, dividing up objectives between Clans thinking that this was the beginning of the glorious endgame. All the while blissfully unaware that ComStar are every bit the cheating bastards you'd expect of an ISP in space with their own army. The Battle of Tukayyid wasn't a complete shutout for the Clans but it definitely illustrated that they still hadn't figured out how to actually win wars. In most of the engagements the Com Guard pounded the Clanners like discount tenderloin and because of their stubborn honourable ways the Clanners were obliged to abide by the cease fire by the logic of no-takey-backsies.

And then once the Clans were wrapped up behind a truce line it was time to get back to good-old inter-house wars. In an ultra-brief summary: There was the FedCom Civil War, kicking off the <s>Fifth Succession War</s> Word of Blake Jihad, the religious fanatic (well, moreso than usual) faction of Comstar went crazy over the entire Inner Sphere with cyborgs and nukes, until some dude named Devlin Stone got everyone to work together and kick them off Terra, then went on to form the Republic of the Sphere, essentially a re-establishment of the Terran Hegemony. In the meantime, the Clans got a bug up their asses over ideological purity after their Scientist Castes tried to take over, and all the Clans who invaded the Inner Sphere got kicked out of Clan Space to live there instead. Eventually someone forgot to pay the phone bill and the interstellar faster-than-light communication network went down. This ushered in the last era in the fluff known as the "Dark Age."

This is also considered the second ruination of the franchise by some. Many long-time fans think highly of the Succession Wars era of Battletech, right after the fall of the Star League. Marching around the field with walking tanks so expensive and rare that it's better to lose a pilot than a weapon is a powerful fantasy. It's often described as being "Mad Max with mechs." Of course, the blasted hellscape of the post-apocalypse is hard to maintain when the Clans invaded with their own brand-new shiny toys. The shift from "squabbling tribes with rusty guns" to "courageous defenders with shiny factories" is often considered the first ruination of the property ''(while a vocal minority, ie the clannerscum, hold it up as the only reason they got into it)''. When the squabbling of the Inner Sphere was broken up again by quasi-religious zealots and Battletech was forced to stitch in apocrypha from its bastard child, the miniature game MechWarrior: Dark Age, people considered it the second collapse of the franchise.

===ilClan Era <strike>Dawn of a New Age, or Not</strike>===
In 2019 Catalyst released '''Shattered Fortress''', the first half of a two-sourcebook set intended to finally advance the franchise into a post-Dark Age era. It ended with a cliffhanger: on New Year's Day 3150 a Clan fleet lands on Terra, but we don't know which Clan. Continuing the recurring theme of Battletech players not caring one bit about advancing the storyline, the release of the second book was then delayed indefinitely by the massive success of a Kickstarter offering more new miniatures and rules set 100 years back on the timeline. While each republished or recompiled rulebook has prologues hinting that the ilClan and Third Star League are around in 3250 from framing documents as archival material, details were deliberately [[Skub|left vague]]. Come 2021, and the novels have finally pushed the timeline out of the Dark Age, reception has been... [[Derp|eh]]. While some factions and characters got a lot of development and [[Awesome|heroic action]], many others were [[Rage|given the shaft]] or reduced to 2D [[FAIL|caricactures when they had potential for development]].

On January 1st, 2021 the novel ''Hour of the Wolf'' was released. Long story short, the Wolf Khan managed to get his hands on a way to bypass the Fortress Walls (unknown to most, Devlin Stone snuck them the access codes as he believed they were the least terrible of bad outcomes). Clans Wolf and Jade Falcon then beat the shit out of the Republic of the Sphere (but not before having the bulk of their commanders assassinated by headhunter units), fought a Trial of Possession for Terra, and the Wolves won. So, Clan Wolf is now ilClan. Their Khan made the Jade Falcons his clan's bodyguard (the bad elements having died fighting), and reconstituted Clan Smoke Jaguar as a non-voting clan and to serve as his clan's black ops/special forces. These Clans then created a new Star League (to a point). And with the combined might of these admittedly terribly mangled clans now strengthened by working together, they might actually make something of themselves. Others in the setting might not recognize them yet, but with the industrial might of the region(s) of space they occupy, they'll probably end up smashing faces and making it clear whose boss. Or they'll get booted off or everyone will just wait for them to self-destruct and then just walk right in.

==Factions Summary==
While each faction has a certain flavor and preferred equipment/tactics, factions do not limit your gameplay choices to particular sets of mechs/units/components, as in many other games ([[Warhammer 40,000]] is a good example, amongst many other skirmish-level wargames). So if something you want to use is in specific era of Battletech History (FEDCOM Civil War, Clan Invasion, et cetera), anything goes. Although it's common for players to roleplay as being employed by some major power, and limiting themselves to their styles. Either that or they play as mercenaries and do as they please. Seriously, the amount of in-fighting is in effect galactic level (in Warhammer 40k -- aside from humanity itself -- only the ''Necrontyr'', the flesh incarnations of the [[Necrons]], ever fought each other to such a long and drawn out extent).

===The Inner Sphere===
While other time periods might have better or more interesting rules, the most popular ruleset remains the eras between the Fourth Succession War (3028) to just before the Word of Blake Jihad (3067). This list of Inner Sphere factions covers those periods.

====[[Federated Suns]]====
Ruled by House Davion, the Federated Suns is feudal Space America or nepotistic Space UK. [[Lawful Good]], ruled by a Great House as inbred as any other is, and with all positions of power occupied by the same set of mostly blood-related elites. Without the blue blood, you're just a clever commoner. However, the Federated Suns isn't as stratified as the other Successor States, and it's easier for a common citizen to climb the ladders of wealth and power, which fuels an entrepreneurial society that is among the wealthiest in the Inner Sphere. They’re heroic defenders of freedom and democracy, provided you define “freedom and democracy” as “being ruled by the Federated Suns”. Their colors are red, white, and blue. Something about that sounds strangely familiar...

Similar to [[Ultramarines|a certain faction in a certain other wargame]], the Federated Suns usually win most of their battles, and are usually presented as the good guys, drawing a lot of accusations of Mary Suehood. Unfairly, though, as the FedSuns win so much due to wealth-fueled research and production. In other words, they work hard, do a good job, encourage businesses, and they get rewarded with victory. Unlike the Smurfs, however, the Federated Suns has actual flaws - their “democracy” is a rubber stamp, their rhetoric about freedom is mostly just an excuse to justify warmongering and imperialism, and they have such a staggering degree of wealth inequality that there are cases where the populations of multiple planets only have a single school to go between them. This means that the FedSuns attract two kinds of fans: twelve-year-olds who buy all the propaganda, and people who can appreciate playing a bunch of self-righteous, hypocritical jackasses. On the bright side, they do live up to the hype when it comes to individual liberties, and their rulers are genuinely competent and mostly don't dick them over.

Thanks to their great wealth, the Federated Suns can afford to fund actual scientific research in the form of the New Avalon Institute of Science, or Space MIT, and the Davions supported most of the tech development and recovery in the Inner Sphere prior to the Clan Invasion. They also got lucky when they found an ancient Star League library filled with various editions of tabletop wargame splatbooks. They are known to be the house that first heavily employed or utilized a lot of Clan personnel and technologies after the conclusion of the invasion.

The Federated Suns also kind of have a thing for autocannons. Think [[Space Wolves]] with wolves, or [[Orks]] with [[Dakka]], and you have an idea. If it does not have an autocannon on it the Suns will find a way to give it one, and if it does have an autocannon they find a way to upgrade it to a rotary autocannon. So if you like autocannons (and you should) this is the faction for you.

Prior to the Fourth Succession War, the Federated Suns and Lyran Commonwealth were united through marriage (technically the political union was a treaty and the marriage was out of love and had no impact on the nations' unification), forming the Federated Commonwealth, the largest and most powerful empire in the galaxy since the Star League. In order to bridge the distance between the two nations, however, the Federated Commonwealth had to conquer large swathes of the Capellan Confederation, which they did easily. However, only a few decades later the Commonwealth was broken up by the FedCom Civil War, when Katherine Steiner-Davion schemed to either take over the Commonwealth or secede the Lyran half of it because she was a royal bitch. She is commonly known as simply The Bitch by many fans. And her splitting of the FedCom is incredibly weird since her nobles were against her, her military mostly liked the advantages brought by the FedSuns, and her public liked the massive boosts in economy and technological progress. Oh, and she was rebel usurper and had no authority to do any of the things she did. So her successful secession doesn't make a lick of sense and you just kinda have to suck it up. And to top it off, she had her mother murdered out of greed. The FedSuns are currently getting kicked around by pretty much everybody during the Dark Age, primarily because the current head of the house, Caleb, is extremely paranoid and rather psychotic.Thankfully he got killed by the Kuritans with some insider help from Clan Snow Raven (in exchange for some buffer territory). Not so thankfully, his death also brought the destruction a major chunk of the Davions' regular armed forces concentrated on one planet while enabling the Kuritans to take over the capital. Kuritans being what they're like, they probably raped and tortured everyone they didn't murder and alongside their dogs. <strike>''Save us, Julian!''</strike>

====[[Lyran Commonwealth]]====
[[File:Steiner Assault.jpg|350px|right|thumb|A typical scene of a Lyran Archon wondering why their cousin has failed to relieve the Commonwealth alongside a bloody frontline against their enemies. They're likely either at a ball dance or planning a coup.]]
Space Germany with some Space Scotland and Space Scandinavia kicking around, the Lyran Commonwealth is the largest successor state and owns the most resource-rich planets in the Inner Sphere, making them an industrial and economic powerhouse. Their government was supposed to be modeled on ancient Athens, led by a council of nine Archons, but this did not work out ''at all'', and eventually Archon Robert Marsden decided he'd had enough of this shit and overthrew the other Archons in a military coup. The Marsdens were eventually replaced by the Steiners via marriage, who have ruled the Commonwealth to this day.

The Lyrans are rich. Really, really absurdly rich. The only reason they haven't conquered the Inner Sphere yet is that they prefer to put the relatives of rich businessmen in charge of their army rather than, y'know, actual soldiers, meaning basically every Lyran military officer is terrible at their job. There is at least one recorded case of the Lyran military starting a major interstellar war ''by accident''. Fortunately, since they're so rich, they're able to make up for their ludicrous incompetence with the biggest and heaviest weapons in the Inner Sphere. The joke goes that a typical Steiner scout lance consists of four 100-ton '''''Atlas''''' mechs (imagine a scout-recon team composed entirely of [[Warlord Battle Titan|Warlord Titans]] and you'll get the idea). Steiner forces tend to be big and slow, barely able to outmaneuver enemy fortresses. Of course, once they (eventually) get into range, you can kiss that fortress goodbye.

Late in the Third Succession War, Archon Katrina Steiner shocked the entire Inner Sphere by actually calling for a peace treaty. Only Hanse Davion was at all interested, and he wound up marrying Katrina's daughter Melissa and uniting the two countries into one massive empire, the Federated Commonwealth (see above). Predictably, this Beauty-and-the-Geek romance started out exceedingly awesome then epically failed and it's back to single life for the too-pretty Steiners. They recently tried to have Clan Wolf migrate through their coreward territory to keep the Free Worlds League from reforming during the Dark Age while holding the transported civilian castes as insurance. The plan backfired with the Free Worlds League still reforming and Clan Wolf taking much of the coreward and middle territory in the Lyran Commonwealth to form the Wolf Empire. This, on top of a massive amount of civil unrest means the Lyrans are too busy with damage control from Wolf and Jade Falcon invasions along with internal rebellions to be a threat to anyone. The moral of the story is: don’t try to manipulate badasses who nearly conquered everyone without trying. They will fuck you up for it. Also, trying to hold civilians hostage against a culture that thinks civilians are barely human at all is pointless. It tends to go like "Okay, I'll kill a bunch of your people and conquer chunks of your territory". You threaten to kill the civilians and your enemy is totally incapable of understanding why they should care when they treat them as replaceable subjects instead of irreplaceable citizens. Come the rise of the IlClan on Terra and there’s a sudden power vacuum where the Jade Falcon occupation zone to the North use to be. This led to a massive Balkan-style disintegration of the said region alongside the Lyran’s northern provinces; many of resulting statelets are very ticked off at the Steiners for leaving them to rot. While Jade Falcons are barely around in the region, holdout territories and other Clans like the Hell’s Horses and Ghost Bears are eyeing the new buffer zone cautiously before seeking new planets to annex.

====[[Free Worlds League]]====
Taking elements from America, Yugoslavia, and Austria-Hungary, the Free Worlds League is a federal democratic republic. No, really! They have a parliament and everything. Of course, the commander-in-chief of the Free Worlds League Military is always a member of House Marik because parliament doesn’t think anyone else can do the job, and the entire country has been operating under martial law “for the duration of the emergency” since the Star League broke up. But in principle, both democracy and federalism are alive and well in Marik space, making it impossible to get anything done. Think of the Free Worlds League as Space Holy Roman Empire due to regionalist nationalism.

Everyone in the Free Worlds League hates everyone else in the Free Worlds League; the only thing keeping them together is mutual animosity to the Lyrans, Capellans, and Periphery bandits raiding their borders. After finding out that Captain-General Thomas Marik had been in hiding running the Word of Blake for decades and the guy they’d been taking their orders from all that time was actually just some hobo picked up off the street, they gave up on trying to make the thing work at all and collapsed. Which is a shame because fake Marik was actually one of the best Captain-Generals they ever had. After the Dark Age, said hobo’s daughter managed to put it back together again, which kind of makes you start to wonder about that whole “only the Mariks can handle the Captaincy-General” thing. Doesn't help that she had to make a deal with the Spirit Cat and Sea Fox clanners to cement the whole thing together as well as marrying the official Marik family's head.

The Free Worlds League Military is built around combined arms warfare, treating infantry, vehicles, and aerospace fighters as if they were just as useful as mechs. They also used to have the most LAMs back before [[squat|LAMs ceased to be a thing]]. They don’t get a lot of attention, since they’re far away from the FedSuns and the Clans and therefore don’t get involved in stories about factions the writers actually care about. The constant in-fighting probably doesn't help. That said, they most likely do enough to keep their jobs, which is probably good enough to satisfy the average Joe, who couldn't care less about political squabbles. Recent lore hints they’re probably at the forefront of the IlClan’s attention now due to Leaguers eager to reconquer their lost territory. Whether they get out of the border war in one piece is up for debate.

====[[Draconis Combine]]====
Ruled by House Kurita, the Draconis Combine is the obligatory Space Japan, in the sense that it is ''obligatory'' to be Japanese. It has large Arab and Scandinavian minorities who are legally required to be [[weeaboo]]s, with the country as a whole drawing on both the age of samurai and the militaristic Imperial Japan of the 1920s to 40s. The twelve-year-olds listed above, if they leave the FedSuns, will likely move to this weeaboo paradise with its delusional "fierce solo samurai warrior takes on all opponents Kurosawa Style" appeal, not realizing that lone mechs get [[rape|gang-banged]] by enemies who are teamed up like a pack of mechanical hyenas. Defended by weeaboos despite being responsible for the single most horrific massacre in human history during the First Succession War. For an alternate look into this supposed massacre, please read ''Did 52 million really die?'' In fact, they have a habit of doing this. “We defeated the mercenaries on this planet who have nothing to do with the general populace. Nuke everyone before we leave. Why? Uhhhh...do we really need a reason? <s>they’re not our enemies or anything, but [[Lulz|murder is fun]]</s> SCORCHED EARTH TACTICS! Preventing enemies from using the planet’s populace or resources against us is a valid strategy!”

Like everyone else in the Inner Sphere, the Draconis Combine is a warmongering, autocratic empire ruled with an iron fist that wants to take over the galaxy. Unlike everyone else in the Inner Sphere, they actually admit it. They're the only successor state that makes absolutely no pretenses of being a democracy, with the Coordinator of Worlds being treated as a divinely anointed absolute monarch who is the sole legitimate ruler of all humanity. They were the first to start shit after the Star League collapsed, with the Coordinator declaring himself the new First Lord and launching an invasion of the Federated Suns that eventually wound up getting him killed on Kentares IV, prompting his son to launch the aforementioned massacre. They've been the mortal enemies of the Federated Suns ever since.

Similar to the Davions and their love of autocannons and the Steiners and their love of everything heavy and assault, Kuritans are really, really into PPCs (Particle Projector Cannons), mainly because they're dirt poor and [[Lasgun]]s are cheaper than bullets. If there is a mech that can possibly mount a PPC, the Dracs will put one on it. For instance, see the ''Catapult'': a 65-ton long-range fire support mech intended for indirect fire using the Long Range Missle (LRM) racks in its "ears". Almost every variant of the ''Catapult'' is centered around these LRM racks with a few minor backup weapons. They are a reliable, battle-tested design that no commander in their right mind would attempt to 'fix', because isn't broken... except in the eyes of House Kurita. Once the Combine got their hands on it those ears were replaced with two PPCs for direct fire support and two machine guns for <s>civilian massacres</s> INFANTRY DETERRENTS.

Kuritans were also [[Fail|involved in the worst Battletech novel ever written]], wherein a ship of theirs was lost in time and space, and [[what|found giant]], [[Kroot|alien, sentient chickens]]. Far Country is a [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6zQ6ZqEqg0 Shamefur Dispray]! and pretty much serves as the only time aliens are actually mentioned in the BattleTech universe.

====[[Capellan Confederation]]====
Culturally, Space China and Space Russia. Politically, Space North Korea. The Confederation was originally founded when several minor states in the Capellan Zone who were sick of the Federated Suns trying to "liberate" them joined together, [[lolwut|bombed their own capital of Capella to make a point]], and fought the Davions off. Secure in this victory, they then proceeded to never win a war ever again. Sounds like their rulers were evil after all.

Citizens of the Capellan Confederation enjoy probably the highest standard of living of any commoner in the Inner Sphere, with an extensive, cradle-to-grave welfare system and the best education and health care the state can provide. [[Grimdark|*Non*-citizens of the Capellan Confederation, known as "Servitors", are basically slaves.]] Becoming a citizen requires you to provide a certain amount of service to the state by the age of seventeen, and citizenship can be removed as punishment for disloyalty. Even those who aren't unfortunate enough to be Servitors basically have their lives decided for them by the Capellan caste system and the government's ability to tell them that they have to move to a new planet and take up a new career at any given moment. The writers might have eventually gotten the note on how pointless this was because under chancellor Sun-Tzu (No, really) Liao in 3052 the servitors were awarded more rights, their quasi slavery condition abolished and they were given better chances at gaining citizenship, boosting Sun-Tzu's popularity in the process. Just as planned.

The Confederation is run by a Chancellor, who's supposed to be elected by the nobility but in reality is pretty much always the head of House Liao. This is rather unfortunate, since the Liaos have a noticeable tendency towards being batshit fucking insane ''even by Inner Sphere nobility standards''. They claim descent from Elias Liao, who was either a persecuted revolutionary philosopher (if you ask a Capellan) or a psychopathic nuclear terrorist (if you ask anyone else). The main family line births a homicidal maniac at least every other generation, e.g. Kali Liao, who became the leader of a cyborg death cult with a taste for mass nerve-gas attacks. At one point, they decided that having a regular military just wasn't cool enough for them and created the Warrior Houses, a bunch of weird pseudo-religious warrior cults that only answer to the Chancellor.

Since the Capellans have lost basically every war they've ever fought and live right next to the Federated Suns, they've become the designated "sneaky" faction, focusing on guerrilla warfare and covert operations. They go for stealth and electronic warfare the way the Davions go for autocannons, best exemplified by their iconic Raven electronic warfare 'Mech (which, depending on the model, actually looks like a bird; weird but cool). After the Clan Invasion and FedCom Civil War, they acquired a taste for the newly-developed Plasma weapons. Got the absolute shit beat out of them by the Federated Commonwealth during the Fourth Succession War, got revenge when the Commonwealth tore itself apart a few decades later.

====[[ComStar]]====
Imagine a cross between the medieval Catholic Church and Comcast, and you have ComStar. During the Star League Civil War, the network of Hyperpulse Generators that the Star League had built for faster-than-light communications was in ruins, and the one thing that the Great Houses could agree on was that ''somebody'' had to fix all their space phones right fucking now. They named Jerome Blake, the highest-ranking HPG network official still alive, as Minister of Communications, which, since they didn't name any other ministers, basically put him in charge of Terra. As the Star League collapsed, Blake bummed some soldiers off of Kerensky, got the Successor States to agree that the space phones were important and they should therefore respect ComStar's neutrality, and then seized complete control of Terra in a lightning-fast coup, revealing that that neutrality had some teeth.

After Blake died, ComStar quickly turned into a quasi-mystical and religious organization, whose stated purpose was to preserve human knowledge in the dark ages of the Succession Wars, a goal they attempted to fulfill by assassinating every scientist who wouldn't work for them and starting the Second Succession War practically the moment the first one ended. Things started to spiral out of control for them after the Helm Memory Core was leaked and suddenly everyone was able to figure out how Lostech worked again, and then things got even ''worse'' when the Clans showed up.

ComStar is also famous for introducing the ComStar Bill (C-bill) as a standard galactic currency. Rather than being backed by material goods, each C-bill is backed by ComStar's faster than light message delivery service: One C-bill will guarantee one millisecond of data transmission, enough for a few pages of bare text or a small image, with larger transmissions costing more, and with additional fees for higher priority and the like. The value of the various Great House currencies can be weighed against their worth in C-bills which allows for currency exchange on a galactic scale. The C-bill is the primary way that mercenaries are paid and in turn pay for goods and services, and thus the most common currency encountered by players. Post Jihad, Comstar was neutered of its armed forces and subject to a hostile takeover by Clan Sea Fox (outside of the universe, at least one of the game developers had a hate boner against Comstar's OP status and gave their more powerful components the ax, courtesy of Blakist nukes).

====Minor Powers====
*'''[[Free Rasalhague Republic]]''': Space Norse/Vikings. They were a part of the Draconis Combine along the Lyran border, until the formation of the Federated Commonwealth meant that Kurita was about to have ''two'' borders for Hanse Davion to attack them from, so he granted them their independence as a buffer state. May have been awesome. If you're wondering why we write of them in the past tense refer to: ''Clan Invasion, Why Not Get in the Way of One'' (Third Publishing of Liao, COMSTAR ISBN 474-Alpha-467-Upsilon-345). They later join up with the Ghost Bears and become the Rasalhague Dominion. They are awesome because now we have Viking clanners. One of their aerospace pilots literally stopped the Clan invasion dead for an entire year because she banzai'd her fighter into a Clan warship and killed the ilKhan.
*'''[[Word of Blake]]''': An ultra-reactionary splinter faction of ComStar that got butthurt after ComStar ditched all the pseudo-religious bullshit. Broke away and launched an all-out jihad(''yes, they actually used that word'') on literally everyone shortly after the Federated Commonwealth Civil War came to an end. Made liberal use of weapons of mass destruction and rendered several entire planets uninhabitable. Fond of genocide, re-education camps, unstable technology, and mass murder. As a result, they were eventually crushed as a result of pissing off the entire fucking universe, but not before undoing a lot of the technological progress that had been made after the Clan Invasion (apparently by magic, as not only was that knowledge now universally available, but so were copies of the Helm Memory Core...and destroying some factories doesn’t make technology go away). Basically used by the publishers to reset the average technology level of the game due to a lot of players feeling it was advancing too far and getting away from the quasi-feudal feel of earlier editions (forgetting that quasi-feudalism is a governing method, the technology level has nothing to do with it). Ironically enough, their mechs were more streamlined and featured a lot more experimental technologies for people who would eventually blow the entire game setting back to the quasi-iron age. Officially, they were all supposedly killed after the Jihad for genocide. Recently hinted by a terminally ill Stone to still be around and responsible for the HPG network being taken out as a taunt against ilKhan Alaric before being killed off in bed.
*'''The [[Republic of the Sphere]]''': Established by an individual calling himself Devlin Stone, who mysteriously surfaced at some point during the Blakefag Jihad, and helped pull the galaxy out that colossal clusterfuck through a series of successful military campaigns. Upon the Jihad's defeat, Stone met with ComStar Precentor Martial Victor Ian Steiner-Davion and laid out a philosophy which Victor would privately describe as ''militant socialism keyed to altruism''; Officials and authorities would have their assets placed in a blind trust. Public service would be rewarded. Greed and corruption would be punished. All weapons would be placed under government control. [[Just As Planned|Surprisingly, it worked]], at least for a time, ushering in a new era of peace for the core worlds. However, after ruling as Exarch of the Republic for a while, Devlin Stone stepped down and shortly there after disappeared, vowing to [[Sigmar|return when he was needed most]]. It didn't take long before everything went to shit again and was plunged into chaos when the interstellar communication network was sabotaged. Was gangbanged by a combination of separatist factions, the Capellans, and Clan Jade Falcon before finally saying FUCK IT and retreating back to Terra. All while somehow using Word of Blake HPG disruption tech to prevent hyperspace jumps into their core territory. They also recently developed a taste for Tripod Mechs (which are the only modern Mech that can exceed Assault Mechs in terms of tonnage, firepower, and armor but at the cost of requiring an additional gunner and engineer onboard to shoot and monitor the machine's vitals) while also hybridizing Clan & IS technology (culminating with extremely powerful but unstable weapons). <strike>''You guys realize Stone is the [[Emperor]], right? Right?''</strike> None of this makes sense, of course, as the HPG network is not only extremely well and fanatically protected by actual fanatics, but also is so large it can’t really be sabotaged. Except by magically competent Deus ex Machina mooks, apparently. Friendly clans could also build their own for the Republic’s use. Except newly built HPGs also failed somehow. Black Boxes became advanced enough that HPGs were nearly pointless, though, making the whole “Dark Age” thing really...dumb. And if someone had the sense to build building-sized Black Boxes instead of briefcase-sized, the HPGs would have a perfect backup. But common sense in Battletech is [[heresy]] just like in any good universe. Besides that, the eyes on anyone with power to prevent corruption would stop factions from selling out the Republic and the senators would not have been able to sponsor military officers into becoming Paladins because that is extremely corrupt and would not have been allowed or tolerated. Even if such a plot succeeded, there would be no leverage for the senators to get those paladins to do what they wanted. And the Capellans are target practice, sudden separatism makes no sense when they were fine until this point under numerous oppressive regimes, and Clan Jade Falcon by itself would have been crushed and a team up of clans would have sent the whole Inner Sphere into a clan-killing frenzy panic mode. Come the latest novels in 2021, and the Republic and it's founder were reduced to a caricature of fall of the III Reich (complete with a senile leader giving contradictory orders and throwing their best units at the worst faction so the best faction can pick up the pieces). While many of their leaders and fighters survived, it's an open question of whether they cooperate with the ilClan or revolt later down the line.
** '''Northwind Highlanders''': A band of Scottish mercenaries hailing from the planet Northwind. Once upon a time they were a formal Royal Guard unit for House Cameron in the SLDF but they went free agent when the Star League fell apart, after which they mostly worked for House Liao. They got a surprise happy blakesday party that destroyed their HPG and wiped out their aerofighters but otherwise they survived and joined the Republic in 3081. With the Fall of the Republic, they were forced to surrender with their leader loaned as a liaison from the IlClan to the Jade Falcons; which is notable due to both factions historically and currently originating from, the Black Watch, elite SLDF units working as bodyguards for the First Lord of the Star League and nearly prevented the [[Amaris Civil War]].
* '''[[The Periphery]]''': The collection of non-successor states on the edges of the Inner Sphere. They were brought into the Star League by force and are still kinda sore about it, mostly because they nearly got blasted back to the Stone Age and never quite got their technology back up. The most important entities (outside of the Clans) are the Periphery powers bordering the Great Houses in the Inner Sphere while the rest is marked as the Deep Periphery and is as isolated from civilization as the Arctic Circle from the rest of civilization.
**'''[[Taurian Concordate]]''': A Periphery nation bordering the Federated Suns and Cappellan Confederation. Has an axe to grind against the Federated Suns and claims they’re much more dedicated to freedom and liberty than the Davions. Think the United States right after 9/11, all of the good and the bad, and you have a good idea of the culture. Just replace paranoia about Islam with paranoid about the Federated Suns, including the fact that the overwhelming majority of who they're paranoid couldn't given any less of a shit about them.
**'''Marian Hegemony''': A bandit kingdom bordering the Lyrans and Free Worlds League that decided to become the Roman Empire IN SPACE. A shadier version of the [[Severan Dominate]] from 40k.
**'''[[Magistracy of Canopus]]''': A hedonistic matriarchy bordering the Free Worlds League. A nation of cybernetic catgirls, whose largest export is pornography. No, really. We're serious. Well they're not all cybernetic catgirls but they're there if you want them, and pornography and the tourist industry makes up a large chunk of their economy. Also Medical research and technology, most likely to treat all the STDs you get from your vacation to Space Vegas. Also known for having a significant religious conservatives population as they have an open-door refugee policy.
**'''[[Outworlds Alliance]]''': A backwater state near the Federated Suns and Draconis Combine. Was the Periphery-est of the Periphery states until Clan Snow Raven moved in and formed the '''Raven Alliance'''.
**'''Hanseatic League''': A mercantile alliance of traders descended from Lyran refugees fleeing economic declines during the Third Succession War, their nation is between the Clan Homeworlds and Lyran Space. They liked to pretend to be a neutral third party interested in trade of goods and information while also subjecting neighboring planets to debt trap diplomacy with armed merchant caravans. Also liked to play both sides against each other in any prolonged war among their neighbors to increase profits and soften them up for potential annexation (such as between Nueva Castille and the Umayyad Caliphate). Unfortunately, they were eventually conquered by Clan Goliath Scorpion (with help from their newfound Castilian and Umayyad citizens) and merged into their new Scorpion Empire some time in the Dark Age.
*'''Mercenary Review and Bonding Commission''': An independent group that certifies and provides force rankings for various [[Mercenaries (Battletech)|mercenary groups]]. At least three Mech Warrior games are focused on the mercs as it allows writers more leeway and less chance to screw up the canon.
**'''Kell Hounds''': A merc company headed by Morgan Kell. His son Phelan was captured by Clan Wolf when the Clan Invasion first began, and by the end was running the Clan until it split. Took in Phelan and the Exiled Wolves afterwards. Generally, are tough but cool guys all around. Like the Exiled Wolves, they got a massive "kill on sight" target painted on their back after the omnicidal Jade Falcon Khan got annoyed with their feisty resistance against her campaign into Lyran Territory. Once the Jade Falcons scrambled the bulk of their military forces to Terra, the Kell Hounds were able to retake their homeworld when the Jade Falcon occupation zone and Lyran northernmost territories balkanized from the power vacuum. On the other hand, their commander has a big grudge against the Steiners for leaving them out to dry.
**'''Grey Death Legion''': Mercenary group who were famous for finding and distributing the Helm Core, which allowed the Inner Sphere to regain technology formerly lost during the Succession Wars. Generally an author's favorite in the books. Got destroyed during the Blake Jihad. And then got resurrected once the northern Lyran provinces balkanized.
**'''Wolf's Dragoons''': A bunch of Clan Wolf advance scouts disguised as a mercenary group. Came to the Inner Sphere with a ton of mechs that the Clans considered outdated but hadn't been seen in the Successor States in centuries and were considered Lostech... Which should have tipped the Great Houses off that these guys might be bad juju. Instead of providing intel to the Clans for their invasion, Wolf's Dragoons pulled a fast one and tried to prepare the Inner Sphere for war with the Clans. They are generally pretty awesome guys, even if part of that awesomeness is because they get a ton of attention in the fluff due to the writers' obsession with anything related to Clan Wolf. They got screwed pretty badly during the Blake Jihad when the nutjobs assaulted Outreach. By Dark Age they are slowly recovering with help from the Kell Hounds. Recent novellas have the Wolves convince them to join them on Terra once it's conquered to prevent the genocidal Jade Falcons from becoming the IlClan. Unfortunately, latest novels also made them become meatshields used by the Wolf Khan to expend the Turquoise Turkeys' ammo supplies while being reduced to a fraction of their strength. Naturally, in a repeat of their history against Kurita, they [[Book of Grudges|swore]] an oath to stand against the Wolves permanently.

===[[The Clans]]===
Laughable strategic and logistical ability and basically have no plan when they do something. But God have mercy on you if they're coming your way. 'Cus you're '''''fucked'''''. These guys reside in the [[Deep Periphery]] and tried to leave well enough alone with the Spheroid barbarians their SLDF ancestors disowned until Space AT&T knocked on their front door like an unsolicited salesman. The resulting "GTFO my lawn" response naturally made the Innner Sphere soil their pants. Each clan is named after an animal, and yes those are the animal's full names.

* Clan Blood Spirit: The smallest clan. Noted for having the toughest training, favored Battle Armor, and had no official allies after starting off idealistic but then becoming jaded grudge-holders. :( Despite above comment, not ACTUALLY an animal, but named for the warrior spirit that united the forces under Kerensky.
* Clan Burrock: The only clan to support the Dark Caste. Liked picking on the Blood Spirits before they were absorbed by Clan Star Adder.
* Clan Cloud Cobra: The Religious types. Loved aerospace fighters and jump jets. Obsessed with collecting genetic bloodlines other clans don't want.
* Clan Coyote: Native Americans in Space. Also like to scheme too much for their own good. Known for creating a shit ton of tech (unlike [[Adeptus Mechanicus|some people]] on Mars...)
* Clan Diamond Shark: Used to be called Sea Fox until Snow Raven killed their namesake (with their current one) the only clan that views the merchant caste as equal to their warrior one. Later brought back the Sea Fox and changed their name back. The only clan to allow all castes to vote, making them arguably a genuinely democratic republic.
* Clan Fire Mandrill: The clan whose gimmick was to always have a few subfactions to foster internal competition. At first it was manageable and it improved the clan, but then the factionalism snowballed into more than 10 mini-subfactions which made the whole clan a laughing stock among the clans.
* Clan Ghost Bear: The only clan to be founded by a married couple, as a result they're the only clan to still have normal family units. Much more protective of its civilian caste than the others. Nearly devoured the Free Rashalague Republic in the Clan Invasion, then merged with what was left after the Jihad. Went full blown good old fashion Viking Berserker when the Jihad nuked their civilians, attacking friend and foe alike in pure grief fueled murderous rage. Awesome.
* Clan Goliath Scorpion: Stoners with rose-colored nostalgia glasses. Also noted for elite marksmanship and ambush tactics. Likes to [[Blood Ravens|acquire artifacts]] [[Trazyn the Infinite|for cultural appreciation of the Star League]], sometimes with bad consequences down the line.
* Clan Hell's Horses: The only clan to think tanks are useful, often uses combined arms tactics rather than just spamming mechs. They have a hot rod flames color scheme. Extremely heavily focused on teamwork. Including teamwork between castes and between the clan and its conquered worlds. Which has led to very good relations both internally and externally. Probably the only Clan other than the Star Adders that locals might actually support over a "liberating" Inner Sphere force. ''Maybe''.
* Clan <strike>Temper Tantrum</strike> Ice Hellion: Speed freaks with a big ego. Their Khan seems to bitch every time their forces lose, which is often.
* Clan Jade Falcon: The spotlight stealing clan second only to the Wolves, with whom they have a fierce rivalry. Slightly less evil than the Jaguars.
* Clan Mongoose: Basically a footnote in clan history. Extremely aggressive, tend to attack everyone near them. [[Fail|Got their asses kicked by everyone else before being absorbed.]]
* Clan Nova Cat: The spiritual types, they decide their policy with visions, which 9 times out of 10 ends badly for them. Some of the best marksmen in the clans, often competed with Clan Goliath Scorpion. Joined Smoke Jaguar in attacking the Draconis Combine, then sided with the Combine right after everyone decided the Jags had to go. Eventually got destroyed during the Dark Ages for backing the wrong Kuritan royal in a civil war.
* Clan <strike>Chimney Kitten</strike> Smoke Jaguar: Essentially super aggressive [[World Eaters]] trained to pilot mechs. Known to fuck shit up until their smaller numbers (due to infighting, shitting on their civilian castes and hating logistics) fucked them over in long campaign. Were eventually wiped out by the Inner Sphere counter-attack after they murdered an entire city from orbit. What goes around comes around. Recent ilClan lore had their descendants in the Fidelis sworn to the Wolf Khan in exchange for rebuilding their clan; [[What|despite]] their original [[Book of Grudges|hatred]] for letting the Second Star League annihilate them.
* Clan Snow Raven: The sinister & cunning space jockeys of the clans. Specialized in space combat and became BBFs with the Outworlds Alliance.
* Clan Spirit Cats: Offshoots of the Nova Cats after they were annihilated by the Combine.
* Clan Star Adder: Boring, but very, very practical, which benefited them a lot. They favor using assault mechs, and like to upgrade their lasers to heavy lasers. Living under them or as one of them is much more like real life. If you can do a job, you can have the job. Including a laborer wanting to be a warrior. Which ironically is the same approach that caused Clan Wolverine to be destroyed by Kerensky.
* Clan Steel Viper: Self righteous xenophobes who wanted to cooperate with the Inner Sphere but also treated freeborns like dirt, and then wondered why nobody liked them. Responsible for Clan genocide known as "The Wars of Reaving". [[Fail|Got genocided in return.]]
* Clan Widowmaker: The hyper-aggressive types. Their first Khan held a grudge against the Wolverines and framed them before being killed with support from Nicholas. Widowmaker later got annihilated for accidentally killing Nicky. What was left of it, however, <strike>gave birth</strike> (lies Clanners aren't born, they're grown) to the most dangerous MechWarrior ever, Natasha Kerensky.
* Clan Wolf: The spotlight stealing Clan, courtesy of it being Kerensky's personal clan. Split up into two factions following the Refusal War.
** Crusader Wolves: The guys who want to continue the invasion of Inner Sphere. Wound up migrating from their original invasion corridor to Lyran/Marik space & formed a new & dangerous upstart state called the '''Wolf Empire.''' Later <strike>[[Mary Sue|surprise surprise]]</strike>, won against the Republic and Jade Falcons on Terra to become the ilClan of the Third Star League [[FAIL|despite the other factions refusing to recognize them for now]] outside of the former Republic’s officials, Jade Falcons, & the Smoke Jaguars that are all a shadow of their strength. Naturally lost most of their forces to take the top prize.
** Warden Wolf-in-Exile: The guys who want to defend Inner Sphere against the rest of the clans, who they think are a mockery of Kerensky's teachings. Like the Kell Hounds, they got a massive "kill on sight" target painted on their back after the omnicidal Jade Falcon Khan got annoyed with their feisty resistance against her campaign into Lyran Territory. Somehow got convinced to rejoin the Crusaders Wolves in revenge against the Jade Falcons despite the story never addressing the Crusader-Warden divide on treating Inner Sphere nations as subjects to be conquered and ruled from above or charges to be protected and educated from partnership. The “official” motive of seeking payback against the Jade Falcons for razing their civilian population centers and killing their cadet academies can only go so far until the Green Chickens got defeated.
* <strike>[[Clan Wolverine]]</strike> Not-Named Clan: Aggressive and independent minded, these guys pissed off Nicky to such extent that they were annihilated after the vengeful Widowmaker Khan framed them of detonating nukes on civilians and another Clan’s genetic repository after the Wolverines seceded from the Clans. Basically, they did the caste thing but thought "Hey, why not let people do what they're best at?" and that sort of thing. It pissed off crazy pants ilKhan Kerensky because this approach made them more successful than all the other clans, proving his method was actually not the best way. Some survivors were able to flee as the '''Minnesota Tribe''' but they've been never heard from publicly since (though there are hints that they're around in the Deep Periphery in some recent novels and short stories). [[What|There are many theories about them returning to Inner Sphere and taking over it as shadow masterminds in order to destroy the clans.]]

===[[Wars of Reaving]]===
[[Advancing the Storyline|Fed up with having to write more stuff about clans nobody cares about]], a bunch of clans were wiped out after the Jihad, or driven out of clan territory. While the in-story explanation is that a butthurt ilKhan decided it was time to make a powerplay after not having won anything out of the Inner Sphere Invasion, everyone knows that there were several clans that had no discernable effect on the game.
*'''''Annihilated or Absorbed:'''''
**Blood Spirit: Got wiped out for using civilian militias which "isn't clan-like" and [[Bullshit|marked for annihilation for letting people fight for their homes instead of cooperating with their new leaders as Clan honor dictates.]] As well as using [[Planetary Defense Force|en-mass civilian militias]] to attack their enemies.
**Burrock: Tried to re-establish themselves after being absorbed, got defeated.
**Fire Mandrill: Too fractured to fight back effectively during the Wars of Reaving. What was left of them got absorbed by the Goliath Scorpions and other Homeworld Clans
**Ice Hellion: [[Fail|Killed themselves by trying to steal Jade Falcon and Hell's Horses territory.]] The remaining survivors joined Goliath Scorpion.
**Steel Viper: Took over the Clan Homeworlds and gave everyone free reign to remove the “taint” of the Invader Clans by any means necessary. Forgot that they themselves were an Invader Clan.
**Nova Cat: Destroyed by the Draconis Combine for being on the losing side of a civil war.
*'''''Exiled or Abjured:''''' These clans were forced out of the Clan Homeworlds on the pretense of being "corrupted" by Inner Sphere influences. Some later formed the '''Council of Six Clans''', representing the clans that now exist in the Inner Sphere.
**Ghost Bears: Banished to the Inner Sphere and eventually founded the '''Rasalhague Dominion.''' Joined the Council.
**Goliath Scorpion: Originally sided with the Homeworld Clans to drive the Invader Clans out of the Kerensky Cluster. Then was censured and abjured for absorbing Clan Ice Hellion Warriors and Star League descended mercenaries from Eridani Light Horse in their Clan eugenics program without permission. Ran away and conquered Nueva Castile and Umayyads (Spaniards vs. Arabs IN SPACE) in the Deep Periphery, forming '''Escorpion Imperio.''' By the eve of the Dark Age, they had also conquered their neighbors to the south, the Hanseatic League, and founded a new major Periphery power known as the '''Scorpion Empire''' that's second only to the Homeworld Clans as a military power in the Periphery.
**Hell's Horses: Stole some of Clan Wolf's territory in the Inner Sphere, and end up getting banished from the Clan Homeworlds. Developed a taste for experimenting with QuadVee Mechs (which can convert from a ground combat vehicle into a Quad Mech while also requiring a dedicated gunner). Joined the Council.
**Jade Falcon: Banished to the Inner Sphere and tried to conquer Terra but failed. Still rules the parts of the Inner Sphere they conquered during the Clan Invasion. Replaced the Smoke Jaguars as the most vicious clan under their latest Khan (who's willing to do anything to kill her enemies). Joined the Council. Later got most of their forces wiped out from omnicidal fighting against the Republic, Dragoons, and Wolves on Terra. Said genocidal Khan got killed off and replaced with a pragmatic reformer who agreed to follow the Wolf IlKhan in exchange for the Turquoise Turkeys becoming the IlKhan's body guards.
**Sea Fox/Diamond Shark: Ended up in what's left of the Free Worlds League. Split up into semi-independent merchant fleets and are now a collection of nomadic "Khanates" that sail the starlanes of the Inner Sphere. Joined the Council, but also joined the FWL as a member state. In the meantime, managed to bring the Sea Fox back from extinction, and changed back to their old name.
**Smoke Jaguar: Some of them showed up as super-secret Clanner loyalists called '''Fidelis''' to the Republic of the Sphere. More practical minded than their grandparents but just as likely to go [[rip and tear|berserk]] when fighting any clan warriors for their perceived betrayal. Still in the Fortress Republic. A scant few are found hiding in the Deep Periphery with the few warships that they still had. Later somehow let go of their grudge to pledge allegiance to the Wolve Khan in exchange for reforming their Clan under the IlKhan's protection.
**Snow Raven: Ran away and merged with the Outworlds Alliance in the Periphery, forming the '''Raven Alliance.''' Joined the Council.
**Spirit Cat: What's left of Nova Cats, allied with the Free Worlds League and formed an enclave in their territory with sponsorship from House Marik and Clan Sea Fox.
**Wolf: Splintered into several factions. Basically conquered the central and coreward territories of Lyran Alliance under the '''Wolf Empire.''' Making the Steiners have a bigger headache, their Khan, Katrina Steiner's descendant, claimed the mantle of Archon through her bloodline. Wolves-in-Exile refuse to join and are doing their own thing. Clan Wolf-Alliance joined the Council. “Katrina Steiner’s descendant” is in fact a Trueborn Clanner that Katherine Steiner-Davion had made using both her own genetic material and Victor Steiner-Davion’s, because regular incest just wasn’t crazy enough for her. Later became IlKhan once the two halves merged back together <strike>naturally</strike>.
*'''''Home Clans:''''' Theses clans still hold territory in the Clan Homeworlds and consider themselves "True Clans."
**Cloud Cobra: Still around.
**Coyote: Sneaky bastards. Got their hands on the genetic material of one of Clan Wolves's founders. Outside of the universe, unreliable rumors hint that said founder may have been the last known descendant of House Cameron.
**Star Adder: TOP DOG. Their Khan was the one who stopped the psycho Steel Viper ilKhan by dint of beating his head inside out with the nearest handy blunt object.
**Stone Lions: Made from the Hell's Horses who were left in the Clan Homeworlds and didn't get exiled.

So basically there are now ten Clans: The six Spheroid Clans, and the four Home Clans. The rest are either dead, formed hybrid societies, or are even more minor than before and thus save the writers from some hard work in upcoming TROs.

==The Appeal of Battletech==
First and most obvious, giant stompy Battlemechs bristling with guns duking it out is cool. But despite that, Battletech is in general a more grounded and human setting. You don't have warp daemons, God Emperors, energy forces or psionic powers in Battletech or giant Space Cathedrals and machines that work better when people pray to them. Nor does it have artificial gravity, shields, sapient aliens, serious transhumanism, dyson spheres, general AI and other more wild science fiction ideas. While it does go into some suspense of belief in technology such as KF-FTL drive and HPG-FTL communications, most of the technology is still grounded within the realm of plausible belief. Society-wise, it doesn't go into the speculation on how civilization may come into conflict with divergent ideals or extraterrestrial life, instead you have human people like you and me struggling in a hostile universe where the most dangerous thing is often another human being under another flag. Not that the setting lacks for variety; the main factions are very well developed with their own distinct motivations, even if they do sometimes tend to lean into stereotypes. Battletech is for people who read [[Dune]] and find the idea of the Atreides, Harkonnens, Corinos and the other Great Houses of the Landsraad with their conflicts and their power plays to be far more interesting than what happened after Paul took over. Some others also consider it similar to a teen rated version of [[A Song of Ice and Fire|Game of Thrones]] in space (but with mechs and sci fi tactics in place of mythical creatures and gore).

Battletech is one of the more morally grey settings out there. Moreso than many Grimdark settings where it's a matter of nasty jerks vs literal demons. While there are a few factions which are better or worse than others on the whole ([[Magistracy of Canopus]] vs [[Clan Smoke Jaguar]]) all of the factions have their share of virtue and vice, heroes and villains. Good people can come up from the Nobility of the Federated Suns, Citizens of the Capellan Confederation or the Iron Wombs of The Clans, as can a lot real nasty bastards. In that regard, this is a rather tragic universe. In this universe nobody is corrupted by Chaos or seduced by the Dark Side. Instead humanity took to the stars and flourished, only to be brought low because their leaders were in the end just human with human failings.

As far as Mecha design goes, Battletech designs run the gamut from box-on-legs (Awesome, Dragon, etc), to egg-on-legs (Catapult, Marauder, etc), through to very polished designs (which were mostly stolen from Japanese anime shows). Wrong, they hired a third party artist who sold his designs to them and the other guys. Some of the later work, post-FASA, could be quite smooth, to the point of organic looking. As such, BattleTech is a pastiche of various art styles and design philosophies, covering the range of reactions from "cool-but-impractical", to "eh, practical-and-possible", and well out into the area that will make your engineering professor have a mental fit.

Lastly from a hobbyist perspective, BattleTech tries to make itself as accessable as possible. It's set up more like a [[board game]] than a miniatures wargame. The basic rules are free online, and you're allowed to represent a mech with anything you can fit in the hex grid — including paper cutouts, so you can pick up and play with anyone willing to learn the rules with you.

==Mechanics==
[[Image:Group-Plastic-Miniatures.jpg|thumb|right|The standard use of hexmaps renders the purchase of miniatures optional, though miniatures rules for the game are available.]]
[[Image:Blankrecordsheet.jpg|thumb|right|Record sheets are one of ''BattleTechs''' greatest blessings and curses.]]
The basic mechanic is simple. Two six-sided dice are used, with a to-hit (Equal or greater to) system. Initiative is interlaced, with the loser moving first and the winner able to react. All weapons damage is technically done at the same time, and therefore who shoots first is insignificant, although the order in which weapons fire from any given unit resolves is important. Larger weapons can scrub off large quantities of ablative armor, while smaller multi-hit weapons stand a better chance of forcing critical hits once a location is damaged. If you get hit, you mark off the weapons damage rating from your armor. If the shot penetrates your armor, you roll potential criticals. Firing weapons and moving about generates heat, which you must keep down to keep your 'Mech working properly.

Unlike games such as ''[[Warhammer]]'', where many units are either killed on the first shot or left unscathed, and little information is recorded, ''BattleTech'' uses record sheets to mark off each 'Mech's cumulative damage, ammunition, pilot status, and heat. Also, there are hit locations, so limbs can be blown off. The record sheets allow for effects that are more detailed, but this also increases the overall playtime. Although expert players can get through matches just as fast as players of other games of more or less equal size, new players often find that the game plays slowly. This is usually due to the time spent referencing hit-location tables, critical effects, etc. For new players, 2V2 matches are best, with 4V4 matches being the "cap", in order to have games that do not take excessively long. More experienced players can run games of 12v12 or larger in an afternoon, though these will often be multi-player games in which each ''player'' controls only a handful of 'Mechs.

One of the biggest appeals of ''BattleTech'' is that all of its units are made with a predefined set of rules. Custom designs are fully possible, though they are not likely to be welcome in tournament matches or pick-up games.

''BattleTech'' uses a build system based on 'Mech tonnage. You start with a Chassis limit, from 20-100 tons. You then determine engine size based on how fast you want your 'Mech to be (how many hexes you want it to be able to move per turn) you then allocate the remaining tonnage to control systems, weapons, ammo and armor. This method varies slightly depending on the technology of the chassis, but not overmuch. Though the system has recently been removed, there were previously three levels of technology.

'''Level 1''' (Now called "Introductory Tech") referred to early-era gameplay. Only the more rudimentary weapons and technologies are available, though the critical rules remain the same. This is the preferred level at which to learn, and is synonymous with the equipment available during the Succession Wars era. It is also the level of play made possible with starter boxes.

'''Level 2''' was Tournament-level gameplay. This introduced new equipment and electronics, as well as Clan technology (A more technologically advanced, but militant people). Though the rules are generally the same as those in level 1 gameplay, more-complicated equipment such as ECM, anti-missile systems, cluster munitions, etc. were better suited to more experienced players. It is the level of play made possible with separately-purchased rulebooks. Note that as the in-universe timeline advances, some more-advanced technology is designated "tournament-level", and several items that were Level 3 before the switch are also now "Tournament-Level".

'''Level 3''' referred to all advanced gameplay and equipment, including specialized gear from Historical manuals and the ''Solaris VII'' boxed sets/adventures. This has since been split out into "advanced", "experimental", and "era-specific" technology. This also included all equipment that was not listed in the core rulebooks. More complex rules were inserted in order to increase the realism and flexibility of the game. These include new weapons, new or altered terrain rules, artillery, alternate rules for major mechanics such as line-of-sight, etc. Though Level 3 rules included "prototype" equipment not printed in the core rulebooks, the standard rulebook in regards to Level 3 play was called ''Maxtech''. This has now been replaced by the Catalyst Games release of ''Tactical Operations'' and its sequels.

'''Advanced''' technology (not to be confused with "advanced rules" is covered largely in ''Tactical Operations'', and may be common but incorporates additional rules or restrictions that make it difficult to use without preparation.

'''Experimental''' tech is not mass-produced in-universe. The items are used in one-offs, prototype designs, and other weirdness. The ''Experimental Technical Readout'' series showcases this tech level, and most of the rules are in ''Tactical Operations'' or ''Strategic Operations''.

'''Era-specific''' technology incorporates advancements that were later abandoned in-verse. Usually these items were displaced by a superior version of the same technology, although there are some like the Listen-Kill missiles (which exploited a weakness in standard ECM protocols, later patched out) which are simply active for a few years and then abandoned once changing circumstances make them ineffective. Era-specific tech is the province of Historical sourcebooks, the ''Interstellar Operations'' rulebook, and a few campaign books.

==Spinoff Games==
Due to its popularity through the late 80s and early 90s, ''BattleTech'' spawned a multitude of spinoffs and expansion games.

'''[[Lost Worlds]]''' dueling books. NOVA adapted their melee dueling system to make four books for Battletech mecha. Each book has the opponent's view of the mech on each page, and a character sheet listing possible maneuvers. Since it used the same system as the rest of their books, you could have "20-ton Locust vs. skeleton with scimitar" duels.

'''Mechwarrior''' was a traditional pen-and-paper RPG set in the Battletech universe, using a ruleset similar to FASA's other hit RPG [[Shadowrun]]. It got second(1991) and third(1999) editions, then was later rebooted by Fanpro and Catalyst Games under the respective titles ''Classic Battletech RPG'' and '''Battletech: A Time of War''', likely to avoid conflation with WhizKids' ''Mechwarrior: Dark Age''. Also because by then the "Mechwarrior" title was fully associated with the video games.

'''AeroTech''' and '''BattleSpace''' were both games featuring Aerospace Fighters and DropShips/WarShips respectively, fighting in orbit before any of the action in the BattleTech game itself could begin. Both games eventually got absorbed into BattleTech's rules in the ''Total Warfare'' edition.

'''Battletroops''' was an infantry-scale game about the PBI who fight it out it in the shadow of Battlemechs. It later gained ''Clantroops'', an expansion pack that incorporated clan equipment as well as Battle Armor on both sides, but the game did not sell as well and the rules have since been abandoned.

'''Battleforce''' was a revision of '''BattleTech''', made in recognition of the fact that large-scale combat could not be effectively played out using the current system. Battleforce simplified each 'mech into a simple set of numbers, so that they could be clustered into units and fight over a much larger area. Battleforce 2, released about a decade later, also introduced planetary invasion maps and rules to go along with them. Although the maps are available in Map Compilation 2, the rules will be reprinted in the ''Strategic Operations'' and ''Interstellar Operations'' sourcebooks.

The '''Solaris VII Boxed set''' was made to simulate the fast-paced gladiatorial combat on the game's world of Solaris VII. It included new rules, new maps with special rules, new mechs, and supplements for roleplaying. Little known fact: some of the designs used in the original Solaris VII set were redesigns of the ''BattleTech'' 'mechs which were themselves copies of Japanese mechs! When the product tried to sell in Japan, half of the designs were already copyrighted by other well known anime companies, and the in-house designs were simply not "Japanese" enough for their tastes. Though the product itself flopped, its maps were reprinted and rereleased in 2004, as well as a complimentary up-to-date rulebook. Rules have since been standardized to match those of ''Classic Battletech'', but "Special Map rules" have been included.

The '''BattleTech Collectible Cardgame''' was produced by Wizards of the Coast in 1996, and ran until 1998. Though its popularity had begun to wane after the first core set, the release of the Pokemon card game was the nail in the coffin. The Battletech CCG hosted some very impressive artwork, though the game favored swarm-decks filled with plenty of weak, cheap 'mechs, and it's non-"Creature" cards were too weak to have an effective deck based around them. After five editions (''Battletech Limited''/''Unlimited'', ''Counterstrike'', ''Mercenaries'', ''Mechwarrior'', ''Arsenal'') Battletech CCG came out with ''Commander's Edition'', which picked some of the best cards of the last few editions (though it abandoned or revised some cards for inaccuracies or "brokenness") It had one final expansion, Crusade, which introduced the Steel Viper clan, though there were some prior cards that did reference the clan.

In July, 2013, Catalyst Game Labs released '''Alpha Strike''', a miniatures combat ruleset designed specifically to appeal to fans of Warhammer and Flames of War. It combined BattleForce statistics with improved miniatures rules. It's generally scoffed at by grognards but the only feasible way to play a regiment-sized battle in less than one lifetime.

==Video Games==
'''Official Games'''
* Crescent Hawk's Inception (Infocom, 1988)
* MechWarrior (Activision, 1989)
* Crescent Hawks' Revenge (Infocom, 1990)

* MechWarrior II (Activision, 1995)
* MechWarrior II: Mercernaries (Activision 1995)
** MechCommander (FASA, 1998)
* MechWarrior III (Microprose, 1999)
* MechWarrior IV: Vengeance (FASA/Microsoft, 2000), Black Knight (Microsoft, 2001), Mercenaries (Microsoft, 2002)
** These games had two expansions that gave more mechs, the Inner Sphere Mech Pack and Clan Mech Pack.
** MekTek released a legal port of Mercenaries, with both Mech Packs, new mechs, and battlesuits all inside, plus multiplayer support. Grab it from ModDB, abandonware sites, or your tracker of choice.
* Mechassault 1 (Day 1/Microsoft, 2002 for Xbox)
* Mechassault 2: Lone Wolf (Day 1/Microsoft, 2004 for Xbox)
* MechCommander II (FASA/Microsoft, 2001. The full game is offered by Microsoft for free [http://www.microsoft.com/en-ph/download/details.aspx?id=11457 here].)
* MechWarrior Online MMO (Smith & Tinker/Piranha Games, A F2P game first released on 2012 and currently out as a full product on Steam.)
* MechWarrior Tactical Command (Personae Studios, 2012?, [[Fail|for iPhone/iPad]]. After some uncertainty, MTC was fully released in the iTunes store. Too bad it sucks.)
* BattleTech (Harebrained Schemes, 2018) - funded through Kickstarter and headed up by Jordan Weisman)
** Turn-based strategy game, similar to the original tabletop game. Takes place during the Succession Wars, in a formerly empty area of the Periphery.
*MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries: (Piranha Games, 2019). Also takes place during the Succession Wars. Because nobody wants to take the time to portray the cluster fuck that is the Blake Jihad properly.

'''Unlicensed Games'''
* [http://www.mechlivinglegends.net Mechwarrior Living Legends] (Wandering Samurai/Clan Jade Wolf, 2011)

'''The following are free, homemade versions of Battletech:'''
* MechWar v1.12 (MS-DOS)
* [http://megamek.info/ MegaMek] (Java)
* BTMUX - ASCII-only MMO (anyone old enough to remember what a MUD is?) (any OS) You could play it in pure ASCII, or get [http://bt-thud.sourceforge.net/thud/ a graphical helper] Most of the existing ones are gone, but [http://frontiermux.com/news.php FrontierMUX] seems to still be alive.
* <strike>[http://neveron.com/ Neveron] (web-based mmo)</strike> [Taken offline on July 31st 2014]
* [http://www.titansofsteel.de/ Titans of Steel] (MS-Windows)

==Current State==
[[File:Never give up.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Little Urbie, the greatest of us all.]]
As of 2022, Battletech is in the best state it's been in a long time. After sitting on the property for close to a decade without doing anything, Catalyst has used Kickstarter to fund a series of plastic mech sculpts. Lots of this was enabled by finally resolving the legal dispute with Harmony Gold on the Unseen, but the end result is that, for the first time ever, a wide range of high quality plastic mech miniatures are legitimately available. There's a "dip your toe" style starter kit with the Beginner Box, the true starter kit in Battletech: A Game of Armored Combat, and another for the clans with Clan Invasion. Beyond those, there's a total of twenty different "Force Packs" available, each having 4-6 mechs centered on a theme of some sort. Since you only need about one Force Pack's worth of mechs to play at all, ease of starting the game is definitely one of Battletech's major virtues now.

===MechWarrior Online===
[http://mwomercs.com/ Mechwarrior Online] has, as of this writing, been running for a decade and only now showing signs of slowing down (and as of 2022, the purchase of PGI by EG7 has seen this reversed, with new development going into MWO, including the first new Mech Pack since 2019). A competitive sim-shooter, Mechwarrior Online has probably been a commercial success and helped get at least some people into the hobby, but its main virtue was as a source of redesigned mechs. 3D prints of models from MWO are easily found on Etsy, providing modern looks for mechs that CGL hasn't gotten around to resculpting yet.

===Battletech 2018===
Harebrained Schemes announced their return to Kickstarter in fall 2015 in order to fund [http://battletechgame.com/ Battletech], a turn based tactics game featuring RPG mechanics for Mechs and MechWarriors. The final result was a very respectable strategy game - you play as a mercenary company commander in the year 3025, starting with a patchy collection of low grade mechs and keeping your aging DropShip from falling apart around you. Gameplay is fairly close to the tabletop but not an exact recreation. The campaign follows a power struggle for control of the Aurigan Reach, a region of mostly unimportant space at the rimward end of the map, between the Magistracy of Canopus and the Taurian Concordat. The game was followed up by three DLCs - Flashpoint, which added a series of mini-campaigns of 2-3 missions each, most of them tying into Battletech canon, Urban Warfare, which naturally added urban environments, and Heavy Metal, which added more mechs and a series of flashpoint campaigns surrounding the crash-site of a lost Star League era JumpShip with [[Clan Wolverine|obscured origins]]. Overall, Battletech 2018 is probably the standout Battletech game of the 2010s and a great strategy game in its own right.

Several fan-made mod packs (notably [https://www.nexusmods.com/battletech/mods/79/ RogueTech] and [https://www.nexusmods.com/battletech/mods/452/ BattleTech Advanced 3062]) have been produced which significantly extend the life of the vanilla game. These mods introduce many new factions, dozens of new 'Mechs and tanks, hundreds of new pieces of 'Mech equipment, a far larger star-map sandbox to play in, and far more depth to the 'Mech customization system as well as many quality of life changes. RogueTech in particular attempts to bring the game more in line with the tabletop experience and offers a much higher degree of gameplay complexity compared to vanilla Battletech.

===Mercenaries 5===
Oof. Well, they gave it a shot. After over a decade since the last Mechwarrior game, Mechwarrior 5 was released and it was...kind of a flop. Repetitive missions and buggy AI were the primary issues, and the post-launch DLCs and bug fixes only did so much to help. As of this writing, mod support has been added, so the fans might make MW5 worth it at some point...but for now, don't bother.

As of 2022, the game is now playable with all of the DLC. Notably, MW5 has incorporated melee combat in free updates, and is adding melee weapons with the next DLC. In hindsight, it's rather jarring realizing that we have been playing giant robot games without the ability to rock 'em and sock 'em. Melee better fucking get added to MWO to balance the all-powerful lights against the heavies and assaults they so often hard-counter.

==The Tetatae (Skub Tribal Jungle Chickens)==

There is only 1 known sapient Xenos race in the BattleTech setting. The Tetatae are tribal bird people armed with spears who inhabit a Jungle World. They show up in a far-off world in uncharted space populated with some stranded humans from the Draconis Combine. The inclusion of sapient species was such a [[Rage|controversial]] [[Fail|action]] that the novel introducing them, Far Country, was promptly ignored by both the lore developers and fans ever since it came out.

According to the author the book was suppose to be the first of a canned series of books linked to a also reduced in scale tabletop expansion/campaign pack that would had dealt with the attempt to find the Clan Home-worlds by Comstar's Explorer Corps's (something started in the wake of a few events in the backstory to try to find the SLDF exiles only to end up ironically causing the clans to invade when one of their ship stumbles on the Smoke Jaguar's home system) that would had included potential alien encounters in their searches, instead of the full on expansion/campaign they decided to scale it into a source book minus alien encounters.

(Should be noted that this story was properly retconned. Far Country is an In-universe TV show. The same way the Battletech TV show is just a in-universe production).

==External links==
*[http://megamek.sf.net Play through the tubes with MegaMek]
*[http://www.sarna.net Battletech Wiki that holds much information about the universe]
*[http://bgb.booru.org/index.php Blue Gunner Booru, a /btg/-maintained taggable gallery of BT and related art. Perpetually in-progress.]
[[Category:Wargames]][[Category:Skirmish-Level Wargames]][[Category:BattleTech]]

==Gallery==
<center>
<gallery>
File:Glorious_3d_Terrain.JPG|Glorious 3d terrain
File:More_Glorious_3d_Terrain.JPG|More glorious 3d terrain
File:Infantry_Strike_From_Behind_As_The_Kuritian_Lance_Takes_On_4_Steiner_Mechs_And_6_Tanks.JPG|Infantry strike from behind as the Kuritan lance takes on 4 Steiner mechs and 6 tanks
File:Kuritians_Advancing.JPG|Kuritans advancing
File:Surrounded.JPG|Kick party
File:Eridani_Light_Horses_MechWarrior.png|Bad mofo
File:You're_awesome.jpg
File:Dougram_and_shadowhawk_comparison.png|The original anime mecha Dougram (left) compared to the original "unseen" Shadowhawk (center) and the modern Shadowhawk (right), a robot so badass it transcends cultures and 4chan boards
</gallery>
</center>

==Factions Portal==
{{Battletech Factions}}
[[Category: BattleTech]]

==/tg/ Battletech Creations==
*[[Velatine Federal Republic]]
*[[/tg/ Homebrew Mech Designs]]
*[[Sunbats mercenary company]]
*[[/btg/ Harebrained Battalion II]]

BattleTech

2022-05-04T19:52:52Z

2607:FB90:6FF4:7A06:D087:A795:6215:797A: /* Wars of Reaving */

{{awesome}}
[[Image:NEW-BT-LOGOFLAT.png|NEW-BT-LOGOFLAT.png|center]]
{{Game Infobox
|name = BattleTech
|picture = [[Image:NEW-BT-LOGOFLAT.png|200px]]
|type = [[Wargame]]
|publisher = [[Catalyst Game Labs]]
|playno = Billions
|year = 1984
|books = Total Warfare or The BattleMech Manual
}}
{{topquote|It is the 31st century, a time of endless wars that rage across human-occupied space. As star empires clash, these epic wars are won and lost by BattleMechs, 23-56 foot tall humanoid metal titans bristling with lasers, autocannons and dozens of other lethal weapons; enough firepower to level entire city blocks. Your elite force of MechWarriors drives these juggernauts into battle, proudly holding your faction's flag high, intent on expanding the power and glory of your realm. At their beck and call are the support units of armored vehicles, power armored infantry, aerospace fighters and more, wielded by a MechWarrior's skillful command to aid him in ultimate victory. Will they become legends, or forgotten casualties? Only your skill and luck will determine their fate!|Product promotional tagline}}

'''BattleTech''', or '''MechWarrior''' as most of the non-neckbearded populace know it, is a tabletop wargame about armies of giant robots fighting one another for honor, money, and territory in a far-distant feudal future. Think [[Star Wars]] AT-STs, or [[Warhammer 40,000]]'s [[Imperial Knight|Imperial Knights]] (Games Workshop decided they liked Battlemechs too). It’s also perhaps the most realistic example of walker warfare. Using their size to mount sufficient energy generation and armor that they are fast enough, maneuverable enough, and armored enough that being a bullet magnet does not matter. Using their vertical build to mount numerous huge weapons that each would take up all the space on most tanks modern militaries would consider super-heavy. Usually operating in combined arms warfare and supported by tanks, hovercraft, aircraft, and infantry. Not sinking into the ground like its quicksand because dirt reaches maximum compression very quickly (and thus all anti-mech arguments are rendered invalid by combined arms, armor, power-plant, firepower, and actual science), and so on. The realism of the technology (if not the moronic House Lords and nonsensical events) is so great it could be a glimpse into the future. Y’know, before Bolos come along and replace everything.

This article is mostly concerned with the fluff and story of Battletech. If you're looking for a guide to getting into the game in the first place, check out [[Starting Battletech]].

==Holy Crap, Giant Robots Are Awesome==
[[Image:Batdroid.jpg|thumb|right|''Battledroids'', the first edition of the game, c. 1984. A ''literally''-textbook example on how to get sued nine different ways from Sunday.]]
In the early 1980s, [[Jordan Weisman]] was [[Weeaboo|fascinated]] by several Japanese [[anime]] involving giant robots, or "[[mecha]]." He was quoted as saying that he liked the designs and idea of giant robots fighting on the battlefield, but did not have a taste for the storylines that the Japanese wrote about them. In 1984, Weisman founded [[FASA]] and acquired the licenses to designs from several series, the most famous being ''Super Dimension Fortress Macross,'' though the largest portion came from ''Fang of the Sun Dougram'' and combined them to make Battletech.

The first edition of this game, called ''Battledroids'', was a hex-based boardgame played on a battlefield illustrated with various types of terrain. It came with two large plastic minis of featured mechs, imported from Japan. Initially, sales were mediocre as the sheer size of the mechs made them awkward in gameplay. Soon after the launch of ''Battledroids'' Lucasfilm filed a lawsuit against FASA for using the name "droids," which they had trademarked in 1978. Discretion being the better part of valor, FASA changed the name of the game to Battlemech in time for the second edition printing in 1986. This time, cardboard stand-ins replaced the plastic miniatures, and a tradition was born. To this day, Battletech can be played without purchasing any physical models and with any proxy you please.

Following the release of the second edition, fans of the game clamored for new miniatures. FASA obliged, rescaling their mechs for more convenient play and designing a host of in-house mechs to broaden variety and bridge the gap between the sleek Macross and crude Dougram designs. New models notwithstanding, the third edition, dubbed ''Battletech,'' was shipped with solely Macross- and Dougram-based minis. However, in 1995 [[That Guy|Harmony]] [[Rage|Gold]], an American localization company which had licensed the international distribution and toy rights to SDF Macross, issued a C&D against FASA for the use of all mecha designs from the Macross franchise. FASA ceased production of these miniatures, which were among the most popular designs in the franchise, and published a fourth edition of the game in 1996 again featuring cardboard tokens, which were all based on their own original mechs.

Before '''''Battletech''''', the mecha genre was seen as something that belonged mostly to the Japanese. With few exceptions (''Power Rangers'' and ''Star Wars'', and even then the Mechs from the former were reused footage from Japanese shows), the genre was almost entirely made up of anime productions imported from Japan. Battletech pioneered a new approach to mecha within the Western fandom, featuring mostly stories of pseudo-realistic wars fought by real soldiers rather than teenagers taking on forces of evil or single-handedly winning interplanetary wars, plots that dominated the few mecha series that were subbed by the dedicated VHS fansubbers of the day. More importantly, the physical limitations of the Battlemechs, unlike the limitations of tanks in, say, [[Warhammer 40,000]], are critical to the planning and strategy of outfitting mechs and using them on the tabletop.

===The Mechs===
{{topquote|"Shoot for his cockpit! [[Iron Hands|Kill the meat]], [[Adeptus Mechanicus|save the metal.]]"|Sergeant Robert "Deadeye" Unther (Mechwarrior 2: Mercenaries - Training Tutorial)}}
BattleTech mechs function and are utilized more like tanks with legs than the super-agile flying mecha common in Japanese depictions. Mechs are deployed in formations of four or five, called lances in the Inner Sphere and stars in the Clans. They are able to operate in space, on planets with caustic atmospheres, underwater, and in a wide range of temperatures that would be lethal to unprotected humans. One of the biggest upsides of mechs as combat vehicles is their extreme efficiency-of-arms: an effectively limitless amount of time without requiring fuel due to their fusion reactors alongside hyper-efficient Myomer 'muscles' inside the Battlemech’s limbs that can carry more weapons and armor per-ton than any other combat platform in existence. The only things stopping a mech from being able to fight forever are ammunition, repairs, and allowing the pilot to rest. Even when a mech is destroyed, losing the pilot is a relatively rare occurrence thanks to very effective ejection systems. A destroyed mech chassis can also be salvaged and rebuilt to fight another day, good as new. In the early 3000s setting this means many mechs are often decades or even hundreds of years old, Ship of Theseus-style. Some mechs even have unique identities and/or affiliations with certain royal Houses or mercenary families. Also, as stated in the quote above, it's not uncommon for cash-strapped mercenaries, pirates, or even planetary militia to prioritize aiming for the cockpit and/or forcing Mechwarriors to eject from overheating/battle damage in order to claim the surviving Battlemech wreckage for salvage or as a spoil of war.

As far as locomotion styles, bipedal mechs are the most common, with the weapon systems mounted either in the torso compartments or on the arms. Quadrupedal mechs do exist but are relatively rare, they are slower than bipedal mechs and don't offer the same amount of weapon space for a given weight class and more legs (and more everything else) on a mech means, of course, greater expenses. Even rarer are tripod mechs, generally restricted to experimental super-heavy designs. Bipedal mechs can also grasp things in their hands (if they have them) like melee weapons or pesky tanks. Early versions of BattleTech feature mechs that could transform into fighter planes, but these were dropped relatively quickly in its life cycle due to copyright problems.

The main downside of mechs is their inability to efficiently manage heat buildup. Heat is generated by the fusion reactor, the environment, movement, and mostly as a result of firing weapons. Mechs mount multiple gigantic one-ton heatsink units to deal with this buildup, but it is a constant problem for pilots to manage. Mechs that feature a lot of energy-based weapons will generate especially high levels of heat, and therefore manage very poorly in extremely hot environments. Firing all the weapons of certain mech variants at once (the ''Nova'' mech is most infamous) can cause it to overheat to such an extent that the reactor core melts down before the heatsinks can shunt the heat out of the chassis, which is bad. Safety measures that shut down the entire mech when it reaches a certain temperature threshold are always installed, but since this usually happens in a combat situation, and thus leaves the mech defenseless, some pilots will intentionally disable the safeguards to take their chances. Depending on the technology level of a given game, more efficient heatsinks can be assigned to mechs that remove heat more quickly and allow hotter builds. The fluff also mentions some experimental heatsinks that changed the heat energy to light (<strike>???</strike>Actually plausible, we have been experimenting with this concept irl) but had the downside of making the mech look like a walking rave, as well as heatsinks that utilized caustic liquids to move heat faster but with a limited lifespan.

Weapons consist of three general categories: ballistic, energy, and missile. Each has its own strengths and weakness: ballistic weapons weigh more, require ammo, but do not generate much heat, energy weapons are the opposite, and missiles generate some heat/consume ammo but can be indirectly fired with targeting data from scouts. Outfitting a mech for the proper engagement is key to obtaining victory: mechs outfitted for mech-to-mech combat will generally mount only high-damage weapons with lower ammo counts and slower rates of fire, while mechs set for vehicle and infantry combat will mount weapons that fire quickly but do lower damage per shot. Likewise, mechs that do not expect steady resupply will mount more energy weapons so they are not beholden to ammo counts.

Mechs range between 20 to 100 tons in four weight classes, though a few experimental units lie outside these ranges. The weight classes are light (20-35), medium (40-55), heavy (60-75), and assault (80-100). Considering their size (23-56 feet), that's pretty light; the Maus (33 feet long and 11 feet high) mega-tank that Adolf Hitler demanded weighed 188 tons. (One possible explanation here is that the "tonnage" in a weight class isn't the weight of the mech, but rather the weight available to mount things on the chassis. So an Atlas assault mech has 100 tons of available space for reactor, life support, weapons, armor etc, explaining why various sub-types of a mech drop something and replace it with something else of equal weight. A Flea light mech has 20 tons). Rarer still are super heavy mechs (with weights between 110 to 200 tons). While they are walking fortresses that put even Assault Mechs to shame, they tend to be ridiculously expensive, extremely slow, have issues with supporting that weight, are vulnerable to attacks from swarms of smaller enemies like tanks, and have difficulty installing reactors with sufficient power. Top sustainable speeds of mechs vary from 32.4 kph (20 mph) for the assault ''Annihilator'' to 162 kph (101 mph) for the light ''Firemoth'' scout. Keep in mind that the American M1A1 Abrams tank has a top speed of 72 kph (45 mph) on a paved road and much less crossing difficult terrain. Mechs can also be mounted with rechargeable jump jets that give them the ability to hop across the battlefield or up/down terrain. According to varying fluff depictions, mechs are even able to climb up/down cliff walls and perform flying dropkicks to enemy cockpits, which is awesome.

Depending on where in the timeline the specific game takes place (this is a player choice), there will be two possible classes of mechs: [[BattleMech]]s and [[OmniMech]]s. Battlemechs are the older style, with a set number of variants that cannot be changed in the field. This style was universal in the Inner Sphere before the arrival of the Clans. Omnimechs, a Clan invention, feature a modular construction style and a snap-on software integration which gives them the freedom of changing loadouts quickly. For example, a ''Dragon'' Battlemech comes in a default configuration consisting of one LRM-10, one Autocannon/5, and two medium lasers. The 1C variant replaces the Autocannon/5 with an Autocannon/2 and more armor, while the 5N upgrades the Autocannon/5 to an Ultra Autocannon/5. A pilot must use one of these variants and is incapable of changing the loadout without serious hours-long reworking of the mech's internals in a Mech maintenance facility. Conversely, a ''Mad Dog'' Omnimech comes with a default configuration of two LRM-20s, two medium pulse lasers, and two large pulse lasers. A pilot is able to modify this loadout as they see fit within less than an hour with a technical team, say dropping the two medium pulse lasers for more missile ammo/armor or changing the LRMs to SRMs for short-range engagements.

Like most Western sci-fi series, Battlemechs are somewhat inspired by real theoretical technologies; their weapons range from machine guns (albeit very big ones) and missiles, to coilguns and particle accelerators. The biggest leaps from reality (aside from FTL travel and communications) are the fusion reactor, (a technology still only theoretically possible,) the neurohelmet, (which interfaces with the pilot's brain and keeps the mech upright based on the pilot's own sense of balance,) and the massive muscle-like Myomer fibers that actually allow the mech to move upon being exposed to electrical current.

While Battlemechs dominate the battlefields of Battletech, armored vehicles still have a place. Most of the time, tanks, hovercraft, and APCs are used where mechs would be too expensive (or too advanced) to maintain, or in roles where a mech would be ineffective. This means that, in addition to Battlemechs, one can find infantry, vehicles, aerial vehicles, naval vehicles, and spaceships. It is worth noting that vehicles can be a real threat to Battlemechs in great enough numbers, since they mount the same weapons as mechs. Some tanks can also push the 100-ton limit and sport the gigantic weaponry usually mounted on an Assault mech chassis. In other words, where mechs are [[Space Marines]], the vehicles are more akin to [[Eldar]] Aspects.

Mechs in BattleTech fiction also have a curious tendency to go up in a mini nuclear explosion when their reactor core is breached by weapon fire. Mushroom clouds, explosions, heat, radiation, the whole bit. This has been nicknamed "stackpoling" after BattleTech novel author Michael Stackpole, who includes at least one of these events in each novel he writes. If the reactor was actually breached, what should happen is a meltdown of the reactor (and probably some chunks of the surrounding mech) that quickly burns out because the reactor can't maintain the fusion reaction without proper containment. Reactors are generally incapable of generating an actual nuclear explosion: real-world reactor "explosions" are usually a result of the coolant flash-overheating and generating a pressure-based steam explosion that destroys the reactor building. Lingering radiation would still be a problem of course, but that is usually handwaved away in BattleTech fluff or not mentioned at all.

To get into the actual science of this, a hypothetical fusion reactor wouldn't produce that many radioactive substances. And what few they do would be relatively short lived and would be weak beta emitters. The most likely substance would be Tritium, which is where the stereotypical glow in the dark green radiation comes from. The Mech would glow in the dark but a decent decontamination process would render it mostly harmless. In other words, the stories are right for the wrong reasons.

More on actual science. A containment breach would produce a pretty big explosion. The reactor (assuming H+H fusion, which seems reasonable since we never hear anything about deuterium or H3 mining) would be operating at something close to 15,000,000K temperature and 250,000,000,000 atmospheres of pressure to induce fusion. Assuming there's a couple of cubic meters of gas being contained at those pressures by magnetic fields and surrounded by a few more cubic meters of vacuum, a sudden and catastrophic loss of containment would almost certainly cause an explosion that would cause a mushroom cloud and be easy to mistake for a small nuclear weapon.

==Warfare in the Thirty-first Century==

When somebody decides to attack another world, they load up their 'Mechs (and tanks, and infantry, etc...) onto massive shuttles called DropShips. These boost off into space and link up with Jumpships, semi-mobile Space-Fold drives sitting a ways out into the star's system (due to the limits of BattleTech FTL, Jumpships can't get any closer to a system's star than a radius roughly around the orbit of Saturn in the Sol System. For simplicity's sake, most Jumpships move to the zenith or nadir points directly "above" or "below" the star's orbital plane). The Dropships latch onto the Jumpships, which make a series of jumps from star to star until they reach the target system.

Compared to some sci-fi franchises such as Star Wars or Star Trek, aerospace combat between ships isn’t really that common for several reasons. For one, KF Drive used to propel Jumpships (all of which can’t land on a planet) makes up 95% of its mass and leaves little room for anything else besides Dropship docking ports, basic ship equipment, crew quarters, and the Jumpsail used for recharging the drive. And while Warships do exist with drives half the size as their civilian models, the drives alone are more than five times more expensive to build and are prioritized for only strategically vital missions like real-life Dreadnoughts. In that regard, Battletech’ Jumpships are closer to Dune’s massive but ungainly Heighliners than Star War’s Star Destroyers. As a result, most aerospace combat is dominated by armed Dropships or aerospace fighters. Orbital bombardments and naval blockades are a thing but not typically used frequently due to how much firepower is required for a planetary scale.

Once they reach the target, the Dropships detach from the Jumpships and burn deeper into the system towards the planet. Now Jumpships aren't stealthy, so anyone on the target planet likely detected their entrance into the system, and it typically takes Dropships seven days (varies dramatically for each star system) to reach the planet. Surprise attacks are nearly impossible, and defenders will have up to a week to get ready (some clever or smart people try to shave time by trying to match the target world's orbit with a nonstandard point closer to the planet, or even rare "Pirate" points caused by gravity interactions between celestial bodies, but even this usually gives defenders at least a day to prepare, not to mention the hilarious habit of Pirate points to just mangle dropships attempting to use them beyond recognition). Of course, these aren’t actually rare and we have quite a number of them around Earth, the moon, and every other celestial body including the sun. So close that by BattleTech standards it would take probably just a few minutes to reach the Earth from one of its own null gravity points. Seeing as their dropships can reach Sol's top or bottom null-G in just a few days.

As the invading force reaches planetary orbit, the defenders will usually try to intercept them with their own defensive ships, usually Dropships, Shuttles, Aerospace Fighters, and Conventional Fighters (like the [['Mechbuster]]) while the Attackers will launch fighters of their own. Space battle will begin in earnest as the defenders try to keep the enemy from landing on world at all (FASA originally had two separate games, Aerotech and Battlespace, that dealt with this stage of combat, but current BattleTech rules incorporate Aerospace combat for those who prefer it or want the full Theater of War experience).

If the Attackers can break through orbit, they can choose their landing site (usually near the target of course). The enemy will deploy to stop them and battle begins in earnest with ground combat typically consisting of combined arms use of infantry, battle armored troops, conventional armored vehicles, artillery, and BattleMechs. Meanwhile, any air assets in the form of aerospace or conventional fighters will duke it out to secure air superiority for shipping reinforcements via air drop or trying to take out enemy ground units from above.

==Fluff==
[[File:Mad_Cat.jpg|300px|thumb|right|The [[Timber Wolf]] (Mad Cat if you're <s>Inner Sphere</s> <s>Freebirth Scum</s> Degrazi), one of the most iconic BattleMechs in the series.]]
{{topquote|''A thousand horrid Prodigies foretold it.
A feeble government, eluded Laws,
A factious Populace, luxurious Nobles,
And all the maladies of stinking states.''|Dr. Samuel "What The Fuck Am I Reading" Johnson}}
Much like [[Games Workshop|Warhammer]], the Battletech franchise has an extensive expanded universe. Dozens of books, numerous spinoff games, video games in multiple genres, and even an animated cartoon have delved into the setting and created an entertaining, if convoluted, history that has real influences on how the game is played. Unlike Warhammer, there are no [[Xenos]] (outside of some cavemen-like species), so humans get all the glory (and blame).

===History of the Inner Sphere===
After a period of typical [[Cold War]]-era speculative history: in details, the Soviet leadership is inherited by a fictional hardliner in the 80s and the Union survives until the 2010s where it splits in the Second Soviet Civil War (this was retconned in as the game was made when the USSR hadn't collapsed yet). The appointment of a hardliner leads to NATO reforming into the Western Alliance along with the proto-EU. The Western Alliance helps the split post-Soviet Eurasian states, is joined by China and other Asian countries after a brief crisis and eventually mankind was mostly united under the Western Alliance, having renamed itself to the Terran Alliance and discovered how to travel faster-than-light by opening up artificial wormholes. By 2235, most of mankind's interstellar colonies, already mistrustful of the heavy-handed Alliance, threw off the yoke of the Alliance in the "'''Outer Reaches Rebellion'''" and formed their own stellar nation-states. What followed was a period of war and chaos which led to the rise of the "'''Great Houses'''," feudal dynasties of powerful families adhering to various pseudo-historical ideals (like Kurita's Japan fetishism, specifically the most evil aspects of WWII Japan and every other Asian countries' worst parts of their histories up to eleven) competing for total dominance of mankind. However Terra, as Earth became known after its Latin name, remained the most technologically-advanced star nation, and remained unconquered by the competing Great Houses who turned their focus on one another instead. Shortly after the eve of this "'''Age of War'''" once the Terran Alliance left the far-off colonies to fend for themselves, the Terran Alliance’s bickering political parties were subject to a coup by the charismatic Admiral James McKenna with support from the populace. He reformed the Alliance into the Terran Hegemony and eventually, his titles were inherited by a distant cousin in House Cameron. In addition, both the colonies and Terra began placing more emphasis on nobility-based peerage to handle planetary governance, education, and manufacturing instead of the loathed vote-buying that defined the corrupt Alliance. This is one of the reasons for the severe technological stagnation that is a hallmark of the Battletech universe. After all, any idiot knows that destroying a factory or all of a certain factory production and all such factories means the knowledge of how to build their products magically disappears and the knowledge of how to build those factories poofed away the moment they were built anyway as that is the only explanation conceivable for why destroyed factories were not simply replaced and why the knowledge disappeared from every paper, computer, and mind; after all, universities and libraries can still preserve knowledge while remaining civilian institutions. Obviously space magic is to blame...or exceptionally short-sighted writers who’ll wave it off as [[Medieval Stasis |neo-feudalism in space]]. The main reason for the lack of tech was due to the Terran Hegemony hoarding most of the good tech for themselves and the Star League Defence Force. ER Lasers, XL Fusion engines, Pulse Lasers and so on were all SLDF exclusives, and the vast majority of advanced tech was only produced in the Terran Hegemony, which was utterly wrecked in the [[Amaris Civil War]]. Universities and libraries were nuked alongside military targets, and the Battletech universe lacks a true internet expy, making dissemenating information even by HPG a slow, expensive process. Any advanced tech factories or research institutes left after the Amaris Civil War vanished in the nuclear firestorm of the First Succession War. It took 80 years of more or less constant warfare before the great houses decided that blowing up civillian targets wasn't such a good idea. AND THEN, Comstar decided that nobody but them should have nice things so they started assassinating anyone who might make things better and stealing their research. Nobody really bothered trying to build a new university for actual research until 3015, when the Davions built the NAIS and the moment it looked like the NAIS might actually make some progress in reversing the technological decline, Comstar tried to blow it up. They failed, and the Federated Suns figuring out that Comstar was behind the attack marked the start of the decline in Comstar's influence.

To be clear, the given reason for how the neo-feudalism came about was due to oppression, social inertia, and interstellar communication lag. Before the invention of the HPG in 2630 (5 centuries after the KF Drive) it took weeks and months for planets to send updates on their status to their national capital and the entirety of the nation. Yet other than the Federated Suns good bois and to an extent the Lyran Commonwealth, most other nations don't have the same problems that destroyed the Alliance despite being oppressive. Super oppressive. Which begs one to question how the hell the Outer Reaches Rebellion happened outside of the same tension that tore the Star League apart later. And it still doesn't explain how the neo-feudalism came about as it would make much more sense to have technocratic administrators selected by merit to manage regions of space instead of giving someone and their offspring the level of authority an ancient noble would have had. Perhaps it began the same way some monarchies are known to have: lords (or whatever name for a rose you want to use) being basically miniature kings of their local areas who united and elected a royal dynasty from among their number to handle external affairs beyond their national borders.

In 2349, the Terran Hegemony introduced the first Battlemech, the 100-ton ''Mackie'', and the face of war changed forever.

===Mechs Just Got Real===
The introduction of the ''Mackie'' shifted the focus of military development away from interstellar Warships back to ground forces. The Terran Hegemony was able to prove that the 100-ton Battlemech was far superior to conventional ground vehicles (interestingly, the Terran Hegemony's main battle tank was <s>the Israeli Merkava</s> named Merkava but utterly unrelated to the Israeli tank of the same name), allowing a single man to destroy formations of opposing non-Mechs. Of course, the rest of the Inner Sphere wanted the same capability, and in 2355 the plans for the Battlemech were stolen (as usual, the writers don’t realize that stealing a design is pointless if you don’t know how to build all the parts...like myomer (Myomer that was already a popular material throughout the Inner Sphere, used in the IndustrialMechs before the Mackie was even a concept). ). The Age of the Battlemech had begun.

During the next hundred years, as the Great Houses vied for supremacy and founded the nucleus of the future Successor States, the Terran Hegemony was able to exert great influence as the most technologically-advanced and neutral of the great powers. This would lead to the creation of the '''''Star League''''' in 2571, a grand union of all of humanity's interstellar nations. While ostensibly created for the purpose of uniting mankind and keeping the peace between the stars, it was also a massive power play by Terra to secure the raw materials it needed to maintain its technological edge and once more bring mankind under Terra's dominion. In keeping with the feudal society that now dominated mankind's worlds, the position of First Lord of the Star League was invested in Terra's ruling House, the Cameron dynasty.

While Hidden Wars would plague the Star League throughout its reign, no conflicts were fought between its members as long as the Star League Defense Force kept the peace between factions. Terra's hoard of advanced technologies were shared freely among the worlds of man, and a new Golden Age descended. It all came to an end in 2766. The last of the Camerons was assassinated by Stefan Amaris, a power-hungry politician from the Periphery, the ring of interstellar nations that had refused to join the Star League and had been conquered for their trouble. Claiming the mantle of Emperor of the Star League and Director-General of the Terran Hegemony, Amaris was immediately denounced by the commander of the SLDF, Aleksandr Kerensky.

===A New Dark Age===
[[File:Aleksandr Kerensky.jpg|thumb|right|"Fuck you guys, I'm out." - Aleksandr Kerensky, Great Father of Clans]]
The [[Amaris Civil War]] destroyed the League, and led to a new Dark Age. The Great Houses, throwing off their loyalty to Terra, refused to aid either Amaris or Kerensky, and waited for the war to pass. Kerensky emerged the victor, but with the Cameron dynasty ended the other Great Houses began to vie for position of First Lord of the Star League. Disgusted by the politicking and betrayal, in 2784 Kerensky took the greater portion of the SLDF into exile beyond the Periphery. Those who remained pledged their loyalty to the Star League's last civil authority, the Ministry of Communication, which would later become Comstar, the sole provider of internet connections between worlds. Thus the Star League lost its last measure of power, and the Great Houses began the First Succession War.

[[Succession Wars|Four Succession Wars]], over the course of two centuries, would follow. Never would a Great House gain enough strength to declare itself master of mankind, especially since none would ever conquer Terra. Technology would [[Imperium of Man|stagnate and regress]], creating the Lostech phenomenon, technology which mankind could no longer reproduce, maintain, or even understand. Where before feudalism had been a political phenomenon, hundreds of worlds across the Inner Sphere regressed to or below the technological level of the 20th Century, and hundreds more in the Periphery failed entirely. The sole bright spot was [[Adeptus Mechanicus|Comstar]], the corporate religious entity which maintained the Hyper Pulse Generator network that enabled FTL communications between inhabited worlds. Comstar became the rulers of Terra in the wake of the Star League's collapse, and leveraged their control of the HPG network to ensure their inviolability in exchange for maintaining the incomprehensible HPG networks and neutral treatment of all communications between worlds. In order to maintain their power, they would actively [[Grimdark|sabotage, headhunt, or kill]] all promising technological advancements and promising scientists to maintain their monopoly and techno-religious authority. To be fair, unlike a certain [[Adeptus Mechanicus|cargo cult]], ComStar intervened because they realized the Great Houses were psychopaths and couldn’t be allowed to advance. Also, they were actually loyal-ish to the Star League and hated the Great Houses.

Eventually the Inner Sphere would stabilize around the Great Houses and their associated stellar empires. However, technological progress remained stagnant, and the rare factories capable of producing such advanced technologies as Battlemechs became critical components in the shattered military-industrial complexes of the so-called Successor States. Millions would die so that an LED monitor factory could be taken by one side, or so that a hundred precision-machined laser lenses could be plundered from a forgotten SLDF armory. Real progress towards recovery could only be made after large caches of information which survived the fall of the Star League were recovered; the most significant were the recovery of a long-lost Star League university's library in 3013, and the recovery and free dissemination of the contents of the Helm Memory Core in 3028. In 3028, the two largest and most powerful Successor States, the Federated Suns and the Lyran Commonwealth, were united by dynastic marriage, and it seemed that a new Golden Age might be only decades away.

But the Inner Sphere had forgotten all about Kerensky's exodus, and nobody wants ''Peace'' to break out in a wargame setting, soooo...

===Suddenly Clannerscum===
Kerensky and his followers first settled on the Pentagon Worlds, where they tried to start a new society and a new Star League. They failed though, and the wars erupted between the worlds, showing the bitter irony of life. Kerensky tried to move on, but suffered a heart attack, and the leadership was overtaken by his son, Nicholas Kerensky (who unlike his father had hair and was probably a closet [[furry]]). Nicholas took the remaining followers with him to a planet he called "Dream Land" and established the twenty original Clans.

The Clans are a tribal society that is divided into five castes - Warriors (religious and political leaders and soldiers), Scientists (less respected but are considered highly important), Merchants (detested and only kept as a necessity), Technicians (engineers and warriors' servants), and Laborers (serfs, repressed as needed). Although during the birth each child is tested for their relevance to a certain caste, but more often than not are the same as their parents. Speaking of which, Clanners strongly believe in eugenics, and most of the Warrior Caste members are genetically enhanced clones/mashups. Other castes are selectively bred by the instructions from Science Caste. On a positive side it would mean that even [[neckbeard|neckbeards]] would end up breeding (though given the Clan's brutal meritocracy/kratocracy, they'd end up as outcasts in the Bandit Caste). On the other hand, the society has only a few acceptable non-technical forms of information, meaning that there really is no reason for there to be neckbeards. Paradoxes aside, Clans were created towards efficiency, and even their language differs from the one used in the Inner Sphere. Clans constantly compete in everything, from combat to technological prowess, as they foresaw their return to the Inner Sphere and its liberation. (By their hands, of course. And logically resulting in their control.)

And that day was not far off. Unfortunately for the Inner Sphere, Comstar never forgot about Kerensky's Exodus and sent exploration vessels out to sniff out their trail and reclaim lost Star League outposts on the side. When the Clans captured one of the expeditions, they believed that the Inner Sphere would invade the Pentagon worlds. Ironically, the Clans used that as an excuse to [[Clan Invasion|return and invade]] before being forced back by the very invasion they were trying to prevent.

A prophecy of days far off, the '''''ilClan''''' is a religious myth that states that someday a Clan will take control of Terra, the Cradle of Humanity. The Khan (leader) of the Clan of Clans which captures Terra will become the new, true ilKhan (Khan of Khans) and re-establish the Star League, over which their blood shall reign in perpetuity. All will be Clan, Clan will be all.

'''''ilClan''''' is also an [[Skub|abortive Battletech rulebook]] that has been in the works since '''2002''', ever since the '''Dark Age''' Era was published. Ostensibly intended to be the next historical Era, featuring all new rules to reflect the dominance of Clan society and technology, the bankruptcies and sales that Battletech went through stalled all development. In addition, most fans are [[Advancing the Storyline|vehemently opposed to the destruction of most of the factions]] in the game, and have spoken up at every opportunity to denounce the plans behind ilClan. A prank release of a provisional ilClan historical outline drew tremendous outcry and Catalyst Game Labs has subsequently decided to focus on rereleasing and updating older Era rulesets.

===Meanwhile, In The Inner Sphere===
...Of course, when the Clans returned to the Inner Sphere with the intent of liberating it from the feuding Great Houses, those same great houses <s>said "okay" and handed over the reins</s> put aside their differences and fought the Clans to a stand-still. This was an incredible show of camaraderie, and the most cooperative the houses had been since the Star League fell. It was all quite touching, really.

Okay, not really. The Clan invasion was getting bogged down and while they were making progress towards Terra it seemed like the new normal would be just constant unending war because they couldn't manage to put any of the successors away for good. ComStar, the self-serving treacherous pricks that they are, decided that something needed to be done and so made the Clans a bet. The deal was, come to Tukayyid and fight our best in one big PROVE YOUR WORTH honorduel smackup. If the Clans won, ComStar would stab all the successors in the back, disconnect their HPG access and throw the doors to Terra wide open. If ComStar won, the Clans would agree to a fifteen year armistice.

The Clans, being honourable glory-seeking meatheads, agreed and converged on Tukayyid, dividing up objectives between Clans thinking that this was the beginning of the glorious endgame. All the while blissfully unaware that ComStar are every bit the cheating bastards you'd expect of an ISP in space with their own army. The Battle of Tukayyid wasn't a complete shutout for the Clans but it definitely illustrated that they still hadn't figured out how to actually win wars. In most of the engagements the Com Guard pounded the Clanners like discount tenderloin and because of their stubborn honourable ways the Clanners were obliged to abide by the cease fire by the logic of no-takey-backsies.

And then once the Clans were wrapped up behind a truce line it was time to get back to good-old inter-house wars. In an ultra-brief summary: There was the FedCom Civil War, kicking off the <s>Fifth Succession War</s> Word of Blake Jihad, the religious fanatic (well, moreso than usual) faction of Comstar went crazy over the entire Inner Sphere with cyborgs and nukes, until some dude named Devlin Stone got everyone to work together and kick them off Terra, then went on to form the Republic of the Sphere, essentially a re-establishment of the Terran Hegemony. In the meantime, the Clans got a bug up their asses over ideological purity after their Scientist Castes tried to take over, and all the Clans who invaded the Inner Sphere got kicked out of Clan Space to live there instead. Eventually someone forgot to pay the phone bill and the interstellar faster-than-light communication network went down. This ushered in the last era in the fluff known as the "Dark Age."

This is also considered the second ruination of the franchise by some. Many long-time fans think highly of the Succession Wars era of Battletech, right after the fall of the Star League. Marching around the field with walking tanks so expensive and rare that it's better to lose a pilot than a weapon is a powerful fantasy. It's often described as being "Mad Max with mechs." Of course, the blasted hellscape of the post-apocalypse is hard to maintain when the Clans invaded with their own brand-new shiny toys. The shift from "squabbling tribes with rusty guns" to "courageous defenders with shiny factories" is often considered the first ruination of the property ''(while a vocal minority, ie the clannerscum, hold it up as the only reason they got into it)''. When the squabbling of the Inner Sphere was broken up again by quasi-religious zealots and Battletech was forced to stitch in apocrypha from its bastard child, the miniature game MechWarrior: Dark Age, people considered it the second collapse of the franchise.

===ilClan Era <strike>Dawn of a New Age, or Not</strike>===
In 2019 Catalyst released '''Shattered Fortress''', the first half of a two-sourcebook set intended to finally advance the franchise into a post-Dark Age era. It ended with a cliffhanger: on New Year's Day 3150 a Clan fleet lands on Terra, but we don't know which Clan. Continuing the recurring theme of Battletech players not caring one bit about advancing the storyline, the release of the second book was then delayed indefinitely by the massive success of a Kickstarter offering more new miniatures and rules set 100 years back on the timeline. While each republished or recompiled rulebook has prologues hinting that the ilClan and Third Star League are around in 3250 from framing documents as archival material, details were deliberately [[Skub|left vague]]. Come 2021, and the novels have finally pushed the timeline out of the Dark Age, reception has been... [[Derp|eh]]. While some factions and characters got a lot of development and [[Awesome|heroic action]], many others were [[Rage|given the shaft]] or reduced to 2D [[FAIL|caricactures when they had potential for development]].

On January 1st, 2021 the novel ''Hour of the Wolf'' was released. Long story short, the Wolf Khan managed to get his hands on a way to bypass the Fortress Walls (unknown to most, Devlin Stone snuck them the access codes as he believed they were the least terrible of bad outcomes). Clans Wolf and Jade Falcon then beat the shit out of the Republic of the Sphere (but not before having the bulk of their commanders assassinated by headhunter units), fought a Trial of Possession for Terra, and the Wolves won. So, Clan Wolf is now ilClan. Their Khan made the Jade Falcons his clan's bodyguard (the bad elements having died fighting), and reconstituted Clan Smoke Jaguar as a non-voting clan and to serve as his clan's black ops/special forces. These Clans then created a new Star League (to a point). And with the combined might of these admittedly terribly mangled clans now strengthened by working together, they might actually make something of themselves. Others in the setting might not recognize them yet, but with the industrial might of the region(s) of space they occupy, they'll probably end up smashing faces and making it clear whose boss. Or they'll get booted off or everyone will just wait for them to self-destruct and then just walk right in.

==Factions Summary==
While each faction has a certain flavor and preferred equipment/tactics, factions do not limit your gameplay choices to particular sets of mechs/units/components, as in many other games ([[Warhammer 40,000]] is a good example, amongst many other skirmish-level wargames). So if something you want to use is in specific era of Battletech History (FEDCOM Civil War, Clan Invasion, et cetera), anything goes. Although it's common for players to roleplay as being employed by some major power, and limiting themselves to their styles. Either that or they play as mercenaries and do as they please. Seriously, the amount of in-fighting is in effect galactic level (in Warhammer 40k -- aside from humanity itself -- only the ''Necrontyr'', the flesh incarnations of the [[Necrons]], ever fought each other to such a long and drawn out extent).

===The Inner Sphere===
While other time periods might have better or more interesting rules, the most popular ruleset remains the eras between the Fourth Succession War (3028) to just before the Word of Blake Jihad (3067). This list of Inner Sphere factions covers those periods.

====[[Federated Suns]]====
Ruled by House Davion, the Federated Suns is feudal Space America or nepotistic Space UK. [[Lawful Good]], ruled by a Great House as inbred as any other is, and with all positions of power occupied by the same set of mostly blood-related elites. Without the blue blood, you're just a clever commoner. However, the Federated Suns isn't as stratified as the other Successor States, and it's easier for a common citizen to climb the ladders of wealth and power, which fuels an entrepreneurial society that is among the wealthiest in the Inner Sphere. They’re heroic defenders of freedom and democracy, provided you define “freedom and democracy” as “being ruled by the Federated Suns”. Their colors are red, white, and blue. Something about that sounds strangely familiar...

Similar to [[Ultramarines|a certain faction in a certain other wargame]], the Federated Suns usually win most of their battles, and are usually presented as the good guys, drawing a lot of accusations of Mary Suehood. Unfairly, though, as the FedSuns win so much due to wealth-fueled research and production. In other words, they work hard, do a good job, encourage businesses, and they get rewarded with victory. Unlike the Smurfs, however, the Federated Suns has actual flaws - their “democracy” is a rubber stamp, their rhetoric about freedom is mostly just an excuse to justify warmongering and imperialism, and they have such a staggering degree of wealth inequality that there are cases where the populations of multiple planets only have a single school to go between them. This means that the FedSuns attract two kinds of fans: twelve-year-olds who buy all the propaganda, and people who can appreciate playing a bunch of self-righteous, hypocritical jackasses. On the bright side, they do live up to the hype when it comes to individual liberties, and their rulers are genuinely competent and mostly don't dick them over.

Thanks to their great wealth, the Federated Suns can afford to fund actual scientific research in the form of the New Avalon Institute of Science, or Space MIT, and the Davions supported most of the tech development and recovery in the Inner Sphere prior to the Clan Invasion. They also got lucky when they found an ancient Star League library filled with various editions of tabletop wargame splatbooks. They are known to be the house that first heavily employed or utilized a lot of Clan personnel and technologies after the conclusion of the invasion.

The Federated Suns also kind of have a thing for autocannons. Think [[Space Wolves]] with wolves, or [[Orks]] with [[Dakka]], and you have an idea. If it does not have an autocannon on it the Suns will find a way to give it one, and if it does have an autocannon they find a way to upgrade it to a rotary autocannon. So if you like autocannons (and you should) this is the faction for you.

Prior to the Fourth Succession War, the Federated Suns and Lyran Commonwealth were united through marriage (technically the political union was a treaty and the marriage was out of love and had no impact on the nations' unification), forming the Federated Commonwealth, the largest and most powerful empire in the galaxy since the Star League. In order to bridge the distance between the two nations, however, the Federated Commonwealth had to conquer large swathes of the Capellan Confederation, which they did easily. However, only a few decades later the Commonwealth was broken up by the FedCom Civil War, when Katherine Steiner-Davion schemed to either take over the Commonwealth or secede the Lyran half of it because she was a royal bitch. She is commonly known as simply The Bitch by many fans. And her splitting of the FedCom is incredibly weird since her nobles were against her, her military mostly liked the advantages brought by the FedSuns, and her public liked the massive boosts in economy and technological progress. Oh, and she was rebel usurper and had no authority to do any of the things she did. So her successful secession doesn't make a lick of sense and you just kinda have to suck it up. And to top it off, she had her mother murdered out of greed. The FedSuns are currently getting kicked around by pretty much everybody during the Dark Age, primarily because the current head of the house, Caleb, is extremely paranoid and rather psychotic.Thankfully he got killed by the Kuritans with some insider help from Clan Snow Raven (in exchange for some buffer territory). Not so thankfully, his death also brought the destruction a major chunk of the Davions' regular armed forces concentrated on one planet while enabling the Kuritans to take over the capital. Kuritans being what they're like, they probably raped and tortured everyone they didn't murder and alongside their dogs. <strike>''Save us, Julian!''</strike>

====[[Lyran Commonwealth]]====
[[File:Steiner Assault.jpg|350px|right|thumb|A typical scene of a Lyran Archon wondering why their cousin has failed to relieve the Commonwealth alongside a bloody frontline against their enemies. They're likely either at a ball dance or planning a coup.]]
Space Germany with some Space Scotland and Space Scandinavia kicking around, the Lyran Commonwealth is the largest successor state and owns the most resource-rich planets in the Inner Sphere, making them an industrial and economic powerhouse. Their government was supposed to be modeled on ancient Athens, led by a council of nine Archons, but this did not work out ''at all'', and eventually Archon Robert Marsden decided he'd had enough of this shit and overthrew the other Archons in a military coup. The Marsdens were eventually replaced by the Steiners via marriage, who have ruled the Commonwealth to this day.

The Lyrans are rich. Really, really absurdly rich. The only reason they haven't conquered the Inner Sphere yet is that they prefer to put the relatives of rich businessmen in charge of their army rather than, y'know, actual soldiers, meaning basically every Lyran military officer is terrible at their job. There is at least one recorded case of the Lyran military starting a major interstellar war ''by accident''. Fortunately, since they're so rich, they're able to make up for their ludicrous incompetence with the biggest and heaviest weapons in the Inner Sphere. The joke goes that a typical Steiner scout lance consists of four 100-ton '''''Atlas''''' mechs (imagine a scout-recon team composed entirely of [[Warlord Battle Titan|Warlord Titans]] and you'll get the idea). Steiner forces tend to be big and slow, barely able to outmaneuver enemy fortresses. Of course, once they (eventually) get into range, you can kiss that fortress goodbye.

Late in the Third Succession War, Archon Katrina Steiner shocked the entire Inner Sphere by actually calling for a peace treaty. Only Hanse Davion was at all interested, and he wound up marrying Katrina's daughter Melissa and uniting the two countries into one massive empire, the Federated Commonwealth (see above). Predictably, this Beauty-and-the-Geek romance started out exceedingly awesome then epically failed and it's back to single life for the too-pretty Steiners. They recently tried to have Clan Wolf migrate through their coreward territory to keep the Free Worlds League from reforming during the Dark Age while holding the transported civilian castes as insurance. The plan backfired with the Free Worlds League still reforming and Clan Wolf taking much of the coreward and middle territory in the Lyran Commonwealth to form the Wolf Empire. This, on top of a massive amount of civil unrest means the Lyrans are too busy with damage control from Wolf and Jade Falcon invasions along with internal rebellions to be a threat to anyone. The moral of the story is: don’t try to manipulate badasses who nearly conquered everyone without trying. They will fuck you up for it. Also, trying to hold civilians hostage against a culture that thinks civilians are barely human at all is pointless. It tends to go like "Okay, I'll kill a bunch of your people and conquer chunks of your territory". You threaten to kill the civilians and your enemy is totally incapable of understanding why they should care when they treat them as replaceable subjects instead of irreplaceable citizens. Come the rise of the IlClan on Terra and there’s a sudden power vacuum where the Jade Falcon occupation zone to the North use to be. This led to a massive Balkan-style disintegration of the said region alongside the Lyran’s northern provinces; many of resulting statelets are very ticked off at the Steiners for leaving them to rot. While Jade Falcons are barely around in the region, holdout territories and other Clans like the Hell’s Horses and Ghost Bears are eyeing the new buffer zone cautiously before seeking new planets to annex.

====[[Free Worlds League]]====
Taking elements from America, Yugoslavia, and Austria-Hungary, the Free Worlds League is a federal democratic republic. No, really! They have a parliament and everything. Of course, the commander-in-chief of the Free Worlds League Military is always a member of House Marik because parliament doesn’t think anyone else can do the job, and the entire country has been operating under martial law “for the duration of the emergency” since the Star League broke up. But in principle, both democracy and federalism are alive and well in Marik space, making it impossible to get anything done. Think of the Free Worlds League as Space Holy Roman Empire due to regionalist nationalism.

Everyone in the Free Worlds League hates everyone else in the Free Worlds League; the only thing keeping them together is mutual animosity to the Lyrans, Capellans, and Periphery bandits raiding their borders. After finding out that Captain-General Thomas Marik had been in hiding running the Word of Blake for decades and the guy they’d been taking their orders from all that time was actually just some hobo picked up off the street, they gave up on trying to make the thing work at all and collapsed. Which is a shame because fake Marik was actually one of the best Captain-Generals they ever had. After the Dark Age, said hobo’s daughter managed to put it back together again, which kind of makes you start to wonder about that whole “only the Mariks can handle the Captaincy-General” thing. Doesn't help that she had to make a deal with the Spirit Cat and Sea Fox clanners to cement the whole thing together as well as marrying the official Marik family's head.

The Free Worlds League Military is built around combined arms warfare, treating infantry, vehicles, and aerospace fighters as if they were just as useful as mechs. They also used to have the most LAMs back before [[squat|LAMs ceased to be a thing]]. They don’t get a lot of attention, since they’re far away from the FedSuns and the Clans and therefore don’t get involved in stories about factions the writers actually care about. The constant in-fighting probably doesn't help. That said, they most likely do enough to keep their jobs, which is probably good enough to satisfy the average Joe, who couldn't care less about political squabbles. Recent lore hints they’re probably at the forefront of the IlClan’s attention now due to Leaguers eager to reconquer their lost territory. Whether they get out of the border war in one piece is up for debate.

====[[Draconis Combine]]====
Ruled by House Kurita, the Draconis Combine is the obligatory Space Japan, in the sense that it is ''obligatory'' to be Japanese. It has large Arab and Scandinavian minorities who are legally required to be [[weeaboo]]s, with the country as a whole drawing on both the age of samurai and the militaristic Imperial Japan of the 1920s to 40s. The twelve-year-olds listed above, if they leave the FedSuns, will likely move to this weeaboo paradise with its delusional "fierce solo samurai warrior takes on all opponents Kurosawa Style" appeal, not realizing that lone mechs get [[rape|gang-banged]] by enemies who are teamed up like a pack of mechanical hyenas. Defended by weeaboos despite being responsible for the single most horrific massacre in human history during the First Succession War. For an alternate look into this supposed massacre, please read ''Did 52 million really die?'' In fact, they have a habit of doing this. “We defeated the mercenaries on this planet who have nothing to do with the general populace. Nuke everyone before we leave. Why? Uhhhh...do we really need a reason? <s>they’re not our enemies or anything, but [[Lulz|murder is fun]]</s> SCORCHED EARTH TACTICS! Preventing enemies from using the planet’s populace or resources against us is a valid strategy!”

Like everyone else in the Inner Sphere, the Draconis Combine is a warmongering, autocratic empire ruled with an iron fist that wants to take over the galaxy. Unlike everyone else in the Inner Sphere, they actually admit it. They're the only successor state that makes absolutely no pretenses of being a democracy, with the Coordinator of Worlds being treated as a divinely anointed absolute monarch who is the sole legitimate ruler of all humanity. They were the first to start shit after the Star League collapsed, with the Coordinator declaring himself the new First Lord and launching an invasion of the Federated Suns that eventually wound up getting him killed on Kentares IV, prompting his son to launch the aforementioned massacre. They've been the mortal enemies of the Federated Suns ever since.

Similar to the Davions and their love of autocannons and the Steiners and their love of everything heavy and assault, Kuritans are really, really into PPCs (Particle Projector Cannons), mainly because they're dirt poor and [[Lasgun]]s are cheaper than bullets. If there is a mech that can possibly mount a PPC, the Dracs will put one on it. For instance, see the ''Catapult'': a 65-ton long-range fire support mech intended for indirect fire using the Long Range Missle (LRM) racks in its "ears". Almost every variant of the ''Catapult'' is centered around these LRM racks with a few minor backup weapons. They are a reliable, battle-tested design that no commander in their right mind would attempt to 'fix', because isn't broken... except in the eyes of House Kurita. Once the Combine got their hands on it those ears were replaced with two PPCs for direct fire support and two machine guns for <s>civilian massacres</s> INFANTRY DETERRENTS.

Kuritans were also [[Fail|involved in the worst Battletech novel ever written]], wherein a ship of theirs was lost in time and space, and [[what|found giant]], [[Kroot|alien, sentient chickens]]. Far Country is a [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6zQ6ZqEqg0 Shamefur Dispray]! and pretty much serves as the only time aliens are actually mentioned in the BattleTech universe.

====[[Capellan Confederation]]====
Culturally, Space China and Space Russia. Politically, Space North Korea. The Confederation was originally founded when several minor states in the Capellan Zone who were sick of the Federated Suns trying to "liberate" them joined together, [[lolwut|bombed their own capital of Capella to make a point]], and fought the Davions off. Secure in this victory, they then proceeded to never win a war ever again. Sounds like their rulers were evil after all.

Citizens of the Capellan Confederation enjoy probably the highest standard of living of any commoner in the Inner Sphere, with an extensive, cradle-to-grave welfare system and the best education and health care the state can provide. [[Grimdark|*Non*-citizens of the Capellan Confederation, known as "Servitors", are basically slaves.]] Becoming a citizen requires you to provide a certain amount of service to the state by the age of seventeen, and citizenship can be removed as punishment for disloyalty. Even those who aren't unfortunate enough to be Servitors basically have their lives decided for them by the Capellan caste system and the government's ability to tell them that they have to move to a new planet and take up a new career at any given moment. The writers might have eventually gotten the note on how pointless this was because under chancellor Sun-Tzu (No, really) Liao in 3052 the servitors were awarded more rights, their quasi slavery condition abolished and they were given better chances at gaining citizenship, boosting Sun-Tzu's popularity in the process. Just as planned.

The Confederation is run by a Chancellor, who's supposed to be elected by the nobility but in reality is pretty much always the head of House Liao. This is rather unfortunate, since the Liaos have a noticeable tendency towards being batshit fucking insane ''even by Inner Sphere nobility standards''. They claim descent from Elias Liao, who was either a persecuted revolutionary philosopher (if you ask a Capellan) or a psychopathic nuclear terrorist (if you ask anyone else). The main family line births a homicidal maniac at least every other generation, e.g. Kali Liao, who became the leader of a cyborg death cult with a taste for mass nerve-gas attacks. At one point, they decided that having a regular military just wasn't cool enough for them and created the Warrior Houses, a bunch of weird pseudo-religious warrior cults that only answer to the Chancellor.

Since the Capellans have lost basically every war they've ever fought and live right next to the Federated Suns, they've become the designated "sneaky" faction, focusing on guerrilla warfare and covert operations. They go for stealth and electronic warfare the way the Davions go for autocannons, best exemplified by their iconic Raven electronic warfare 'Mech (which, depending on the model, actually looks like a bird; weird but cool). After the Clan Invasion and FedCom Civil War, they acquired a taste for the newly-developed Plasma weapons. Got the absolute shit beat out of them by the Federated Commonwealth during the Fourth Succession War, got revenge when the Commonwealth tore itself apart a few decades later.

====[[ComStar]]====
Imagine a cross between the medieval Catholic Church and Comcast, and you have ComStar. During the Star League Civil War, the network of Hyperpulse Generators that the Star League had built for faster-than-light communications was in ruins, and the one thing that the Great Houses could agree on was that ''somebody'' had to fix all their space phones right fucking now. They named Jerome Blake, the highest-ranking HPG network official still alive, as Minister of Communications, which, since they didn't name any other ministers, basically put him in charge of Terra. As the Star League collapsed, Blake bummed some soldiers off of Kerensky, got the Successor States to agree that the space phones were important and they should therefore respect ComStar's neutrality, and then seized complete control of Terra in a lightning-fast coup, revealing that that neutrality had some teeth.

After Blake died, ComStar quickly turned into a quasi-mystical and religious organization, whose stated purpose was to preserve human knowledge in the dark ages of the Succession Wars, a goal they attempted to fulfill by assassinating every scientist who wouldn't work for them and starting the Second Succession War practically the moment the first one ended. Things started to spiral out of control for them after the Helm Memory Core was leaked and suddenly everyone was able to figure out how Lostech worked again, and then things got even ''worse'' when the Clans showed up.

ComStar is also famous for introducing the ComStar Bill (C-bill) as a standard galactic currency. Rather than being backed by material goods, each C-bill is backed by ComStar's faster than light message delivery service: One C-bill will guarantee one millisecond of data transmission, enough for a few pages of bare text or a small image, with larger transmissions costing more, and with additional fees for higher priority and the like. The value of the various Great House currencies can be weighed against their worth in C-bills which allows for currency exchange on a galactic scale. The C-bill is the primary way that mercenaries are paid and in turn pay for goods and services, and thus the most common currency encountered by players. Post Jihad, Comstar was neutered of its armed forces and subject to a hostile takeover by Clan Sea Fox (outside of the universe, at least one of the game developers had a hate boner against Comstar's OP status and gave their more powerful components the ax, courtesy of Blakist nukes).

====Minor Powers====
*'''[[Free Rasalhague Republic]]''': Space Norse/Vikings. They were a part of the Draconis Combine along the Lyran border, until the formation of the Federated Commonwealth meant that Kurita was about to have ''two'' borders for Hanse Davion to attack them from, so he granted them their independence as a buffer state. May have been awesome. If you're wondering why we write of them in the past tense refer to: ''Clan Invasion, Why Not Get in the Way of One'' (Third Publishing of Liao, COMSTAR ISBN 474-Alpha-467-Upsilon-345). They later join up with the Ghost Bears and become the Rasalhague Dominion. They are awesome because now we have Viking clanners. One of their aerospace pilots literally stopped the Clan invasion dead for an entire year because she banzai'd her fighter into a Clan warship and killed the ilKhan.
*'''[[Word of Blake]]''': An ultra-reactionary splinter faction of ComStar that got butthurt after ComStar ditched all the pseudo-religious bullshit. Broke away and launched an all-out jihad(''yes, they actually used that word'') on literally everyone shortly after the Federated Commonwealth Civil War came to an end. Made liberal use of weapons of mass destruction and rendered several entire planets uninhabitable. Fond of genocide, re-education camps, unstable technology, and mass murder. As a result, they were eventually crushed as a result of pissing off the entire fucking universe, but not before undoing a lot of the technological progress that had been made after the Clan Invasion (apparently by magic, as not only was that knowledge now universally available, but so were copies of the Helm Memory Core...and destroying some factories doesn’t make technology go away). Basically used by the publishers to reset the average technology level of the game due to a lot of players feeling it was advancing too far and getting away from the quasi-feudal feel of earlier editions (forgetting that quasi-feudalism is a governing method, the technology level has nothing to do with it). Ironically enough, their mechs were more streamlined and featured a lot more experimental technologies for people who would eventually blow the entire game setting back to the quasi-iron age. Officially, they were all supposedly killed after the Jihad for genocide. Recently hinted by a terminally ill Stone to still be around and responsible for the HPG network being taken out as a taunt against ilKhan Alaric before being killed off in bed.
*'''The [[Republic of the Sphere]]''': Established by an individual calling himself Devlin Stone, who mysteriously surfaced at some point during the Blakefag Jihad, and helped pull the galaxy out that colossal clusterfuck through a series of successful military campaigns. Upon the Jihad's defeat, Stone met with ComStar Precentor Martial Victor Ian Steiner-Davion and laid out a philosophy which Victor would privately describe as ''militant socialism keyed to altruism''; Officials and authorities would have their assets placed in a blind trust. Public service would be rewarded. Greed and corruption would be punished. All weapons would be placed under government control. [[Just As Planned|Surprisingly, it worked]], at least for a time, ushering in a new era of peace for the core worlds. However, after ruling as Exarch of the Republic for a while, Devlin Stone stepped down and shortly there after disappeared, vowing to [[Sigmar|return when he was needed most]]. It didn't take long before everything went to shit again and was plunged into chaos when the interstellar communication network was sabotaged. Was gangbanged by a combination of separatist factions, the Capellans, and Clan Jade Falcon before finally saying FUCK IT and retreating back to Terra. All while somehow using Word of Blake HPG disruption tech to prevent hyperspace jumps into their core territory. They also recently developed a taste for Tripod Mechs (which are the only modern Mech that can exceed Assault Mechs in terms of tonnage, firepower, and armor but at the cost of requiring an additional gunner and engineer onboard to shoot and monitor the machine's vitals) while also hybridizing Clan & IS technology (culminating with extremely powerful but unstable weapons). <strike>''You guys realize Stone is the [[Emperor]], right? Right?''</strike> None of this makes sense, of course, as the HPG network is not only extremely well and fanatically protected by actual fanatics, but also is so large it can’t really be sabotaged. Except by magically competent Deus ex Machina mooks, apparently. Friendly clans could also build their own for the Republic’s use. Except newly built HPGs also failed somehow. Black Boxes became advanced enough that HPGs were nearly pointless, though, making the whole “Dark Age” thing really...dumb. And if someone had the sense to build building-sized Black Boxes instead of briefcase-sized, the HPGs would have a perfect backup. But common sense in Battletech is [[heresy]] just like in any good universe. Besides that, the eyes on anyone with power to prevent corruption would stop factions from selling out the Republic and the senators would not have been able to sponsor military officers into becoming Paladins because that is extremely corrupt and would not have been allowed or tolerated. Even if such a plot succeeded, there would be no leverage for the senators to get those paladins to do what they wanted. And the Capellans are target practice, sudden separatism makes no sense when they were fine until this point under numerous oppressive regimes, and Clan Jade Falcon by itself would have been crushed and a team up of clans would have sent the whole Inner Sphere into a clan-killing frenzy panic mode. Come the latest novels in 2021, and the Republic and it's founder were reduced to a caricature of fall of the III Reich (complete with a senile leader giving contradictory orders and throwing their best units at the worst faction so the best faction can pick up the pieces). While many of their leaders and fighters survived, it's an open question of whether they cooperate with the ilClan or revolt later down the line.
** '''Northwind Highlanders''': A band of Scottish mercenaries hailing from the planet Northwind. Once upon a time they were a formal Royal Guard unit for House Cameron in the SLDF but they went free agent when the Star League fell apart, after which they mostly worked for House Liao. They got a surprise happy blakesday party that destroyed their HPG and wiped out their aerofighters but otherwise they survived and joined the Republic in 3081. With the Fall of the Republic, they were forced to surrender with their leader loaned as a liaison from the IlClan to the Jade Falcons; which is notable due to both factions historically and currently originating from, the Black Watch, elite SLDF units working as bodyguards for the First Lord of the Star League and nearly prevented the [[Amaris Civil War]].
* '''[[The Periphery]]''': The collection of non-successor states on the edges of the Inner Sphere. They were brought into the Star League by force and are still kinda sore about it, mostly because they nearly got blasted back to the Stone Age and never quite got their technology back up. The most important entities (outside of the Clans) are the Periphery powers bordering the Great Houses in the Inner Sphere while the rest is marked as the Deep Periphery and is as isolated from civilization as the Arctic Circle from the rest of civilization.
**'''[[Taurian Concordate]]''': A Periphery nation bordering the Federated Suns and Cappellan Confederation. Has an axe to grind against the Federated Suns and claims they’re much more dedicated to freedom and liberty than the Davions. Think the United States right after 9/11, all of the good and the bad, and you have a good idea of the culture. Just replace paranoia about Islam with paranoid about the Federated Suns, including the fact that the overwhelming majority of who they're paranoid couldn't given any less of a shit about them.
**'''Marian Hegemony''': A bandit kingdom bordering the Lyrans and Free Worlds League that decided to become the Roman Empire IN SPACE. A shadier version of the [[Severan Dominate]] from 40k.
**'''[[Magistracy of Canopus]]''': A hedonistic matriarchy bordering the Free Worlds League. A nation of cybernetic catgirls, whose largest export is pornography. No, really. We're serious. Well they're not all cybernetic catgirls but they're there if you want them, and pornography and the tourist industry makes up a large chunk of their economy. Also Medical research and technology, most likely to treat all the STDs you get from your vacation to Space Vegas. Also known for having a significant religious conservatives population as they have an open-door refugee policy.
**'''[[Outworlds Alliance]]''': A backwater state near the Federated Suns and Draconis Combine. Was the Periphery-est of the Periphery states until Clan Snow Raven moved in and formed the '''Raven Alliance'''.
**'''Hanseatic League''': A mercantile alliance of traders descended from Lyran refugees fleeing economic declines during the Third Succession War, their nation is between the Clan Homeworlds and Lyran Space. They liked to pretend to be a neutral third party interested in trade of goods and information while also subjecting neighboring planets to debt trap diplomacy with armed merchant caravans. Also liked to play both sides against each other in any prolonged war among their neighbors to increase profits and soften them up for potential annexation (such as between Nueva Castille and the Umayyad Caliphate). Unfortunately, they were eventually conquered by Clan Goliath Scorpion (with help from their newfound Castilian and Umayyad citizens) and merged into their new Scorpion Empire some time in the Dark Age.
*'''Mercenary Review and Bonding Commission''': An independent group that certifies and provides force rankings for various [[Mercenaries (Battletech)|mercenary groups]]. At least three Mech Warrior games are focused on the mercs as it allows writers more leeway and less chance to screw up the canon.
**'''Kell Hounds''': A merc company headed by Morgan Kell. His son Phelan was captured by Clan Wolf when the Clan Invasion first began, and by the end was running the Clan until it split. Took in Phelan and the Exiled Wolves afterwards. Generally, are tough but cool guys all around. Like the Exiled Wolves, they got a massive "kill on sight" target painted on their back after the omnicidal Jade Falcon Khan got annoyed with their feisty resistance against her campaign into Lyran Territory. Once the Jade Falcons scrambled the bulk of their military forces to Terra, the Kell Hounds were able to retake their homeworld when the Jade Falcon occupation zone and Lyran northernmost territories balkanized from the power vacuum. On the other hand, their commander has a big grudge against the Steiners for leaving them out to dry.
**'''Grey Death Legion''': Mercenary group who were famous for finding and distributing the Helm Core, which allowed the Inner Sphere to regain technology formerly lost during the Succession Wars. Generally an author's favorite in the books. Got destroyed during the Blake Jihad. And then got resurrected once the northern Lyran provinces balkanized.
**'''Wolf's Dragoons''': A bunch of Clan Wolf advance scouts disguised as a mercenary group. Came to the Inner Sphere with a ton of mechs that the Clans considered outdated but hadn't been seen in the Successor States in centuries and were considered Lostech... Which should have tipped the Great Houses off that these guys might be bad juju. Instead of providing intel to the Clans for their invasion, Wolf's Dragoons pulled a fast one and tried to prepare the Inner Sphere for war with the Clans. They are generally pretty awesome guys, even if part of that awesomeness is because they get a ton of attention in the fluff due to the writers' obsession with anything related to Clan Wolf. They got screwed pretty badly during the Blake Jihad when the nutjobs assaulted Outreach. By Dark Age they are slowly recovering with help from the Kell Hounds. Recent novellas have the Wolves convince them to join them on Terra once it's conquered to prevent the genocidal Jade Falcons from becoming the IlClan. Unfortunately, latest novels also made them become meatshields used by the Wolf Khan to expend the Turquoise Turkeys' ammo supplies while being reduced to a fraction of their strength. Naturally, in a repeat of their history against Kurita, they [[Book of Grudges|swore]] an oath to stand against the Wolves permanently.

===[[The Clans]]===
Laughable strategic and logistical ability and basically have no plan when they do something. But God have mercy on you if they're coming your way. 'Cus you're '''''fucked'''''. These guys reside in the [[Deep Periphery]] and tried to leave well enough alone with the Spheroid barbarians their SLDF ancestors disowned until Space AT&T knocked on their front door like an unsolicited salesman. The resulting "GTFO my lawn" response naturally made the Innner Sphere soil their pants. Each clan is named after an animal, and yes those are the animal's full names.

* Clan Blood Spirit: The smallest clan. Noted for having the toughest training, favored Battle Armor, and had no official allies after starting off idealistic but then becoming jaded grudge-holders. :( Despite above comment, not ACTUALLY an animal, but named for the warrior spirit that united the forces under Kerensky.
* Clan Burrock: The only clan to support the Dark Caste. Liked picking on the Blood Spirits before they were absorbed by Clan Star Adder.
* Clan Cloud Cobra: The Religious types. Loved aerospace fighters and jump jets. Obsessed with collecting genetic bloodlines other clans don't want.
* Clan Coyote: Native Americans in Space. Also like to scheme too much for their own good. Known for creating a shit ton of tech (unlike [[Adeptus Mechanicus|some people]] on Mars...)
* Clan Diamond Shark: Used to be called Sea Fox until Snow Raven killed their namesake (with their current one) the only clan that views the merchant caste as equal to their warrior one. Later brought back the Sea Fox and changed their name back. The only clan to allow all castes to vote, making them arguably a genuinely democratic republic.
* Clan Fire Mandrill: The clan whose gimmick was to always have a few subfactions to foster internal competition. At first it was manageable and it improved the clan, but then the factionalism snowballed into more than 10 mini-subfactions which made the whole clan a laughing stock among the clans.
* Clan Ghost Bear: The only clan to be founded by a married couple, as a result they're the only clan to still have normal family units. Much more protective of its civilian caste than the others. Nearly devoured the Free Rashalague Republic in the Clan Invasion, then merged with what was left after the Jihad. Went full blown good old fashion Viking Berserker when the Jihad nuked their civilians, attacking friend and foe alike in pure grief fueled murderous rage. Awesome.
* Clan Goliath Scorpion: Stoners with rose-colored nostalgia glasses. Also noted for elite marksmanship and ambush tactics. Likes to [[Blood Ravens|acquire artifacts]] [[Trazyn the Infinite|for cultural appreciation of the Star League]], sometimes with bad consequences down the line.
* Clan Hell's Horses: The only clan to think tanks are useful, often uses combined arms tactics rather than just spamming mechs. They have a hot rod flames color scheme. Extremely heavily focused on teamwork. Including teamwork between castes and between the clan and its conquered worlds. Which has led to very good relations both internally and externally. Probably the only Clan other than the Star Adders that locals might actually support over a "liberating" Inner Sphere force. ''Maybe''.
* Clan <strike>Temper Tantrum</strike> Ice Hellion: Speed freaks with a big ego. Their Khan seems to bitch every time their forces lose, which is often.
* Clan Jade Falcon: The spotlight stealing clan second only to the Wolves, with whom they have a fierce rivalry. Slightly less evil than the Jaguars.
* Clan Mongoose: Basically a footnote in clan history. Extremely aggressive, tend to attack everyone near them. [[Fail|Got their asses kicked by everyone else before being absorbed.]]
* Clan Nova Cat: The spiritual types, they decide their policy with visions, which 9 times out of 10 ends badly for them. Some of the best marksmen in the clans, often competed with Clan Goliath Scorpion. Joined Smoke Jaguar in attacking the Draconis Combine, then sided with the Combine right after everyone decided the Jags had to go. Eventually got destroyed during the Dark Ages for backing the wrong Kuritan royal in a civil war.
* Clan <strike>Chimney Kitten</strike> Smoke Jaguar: Essentially super aggressive [[World Eaters]] trained to pilot mechs. Known to fuck shit up until their smaller numbers (due to infighting, shitting on their civilian castes and hating logistics) fucked them over in long campaign. Were eventually wiped out by the Inner Sphere counter-attack after they murdered an entire city from orbit. What goes around comes around. Recent ilClan lore had their descendants in the Fidelis sworn to the Wolf Khan in exchange for rebuilding their clan; [[What|despite]] their original [[Book of Grudges|hatred]] for letting the Second Star League annihilate them.
* Clan Snow Raven: The sinister & cunning space jockeys of the clans. Specialized in space combat and became BBFs with the Outworlds Alliance.
* Clan Spirit Cats: Offshoots of the Nova Cats after they were annihilated by the Combine.
* Clan Star Adder: Boring, but very, very practical, which benefited them a lot. They favor using assault mechs, and like to upgrade their lasers to heavy lasers. Living under them or as one of them is much more like real life. If you can do a job, you can have the job. Including a laborer wanting to be a warrior. Which ironically is the same approach that caused Clan Wolverine to be destroyed by Kerensky.
* Clan Steel Viper: Self righteous xenophobes who wanted to cooperate with the Inner Sphere but also treated freeborns like dirt, and then wondered why nobody liked them. Responsible for Clan genocide known as "The Wars of Reaving". [[Fail|Got genocided in return.]]
* Clan Widowmaker: The hyper-aggressive types. Their first Khan held a grudge against the Wolverines and framed them before being killed with support from Nicholas. Widowmaker later got annihilated for accidentally killing Nicky. What was left of it, however, <strike>gave birth</strike> (lies Clanners aren't born, they're grown) to the most dangerous MechWarrior ever, Natasha Kerensky.
* Clan Wolf: The spotlight stealing Clan, courtesy of it being Kerensky's personal clan. Split up into two factions following the Refusal War.
** Crusader Wolves: The guys who want to continue the invasion of Inner Sphere. Wound up migrating from their original invasion corridor to Lyran/Marik space & formed a new & dangerous upstart state called the '''Wolf Empire.''' Later <strike>[[Mary Sue|surprise surprise]]</strike>, won against the Republic and Jade Falcons on Terra to become the ilClan of the Third Star League [[FAIL|despite the other factions refusing to recognize them for now]] outside of the former Republic’s officials, Jade Falcons, & the Smoke Jaguars that are all a shadow of their strength. Naturally lost most of their forces to take the top prize.
** Warden Wolf-in-Exile: The guys who want to defend Inner Sphere against the rest of the clans, who they think are a mockery of Kerensky's teachings. Like the Kell Hounds, they got a massive "kill on sight" target painted on their back after the omnicidal Jade Falcon Khan got annoyed with their feisty resistance against her campaign into Lyran Territory. Somehow got convinced to rejoin the Crusaders Wolves in revenge against the Jade Falcons despite the story never addressing the Crusader-Warden divide on treating Inner Sphere nations as subjects to be conquered and ruled from above or charges to be protected and educated from partnership. The “official” motive of seeking payback against the Jade Falcons for razing their civilian population centers and killing their cadet academies can only go so far until the Green Chickens got defeated.
* <strike>[[Clan Wolverine]]</strike> Not-Named Clan: Aggressive and independent minded, these guys pissed off Nicky to such extent that they were annihilated after the vengeful Widowmaker Khan framed them of detonating nukes on civilians and another Clan’s genetic repository after the Wolverines seceded from the Clans. Basically, they did the caste thing but thought "Hey, why not let people do what they're best at?" and that sort of thing. It pissed off crazy pants ilKhan Kerensky because this approach made them more successful than all the other clans, proving his method was actually not the best way. Some survivors were able to flee as the '''Minnesota Tribe''' but they've been never heard from publicly since (though there are hints that they're around in the Deep Periphery in some recent novels and short stories). [[What|There are many theories about them returning to Inner Sphere and taking over it as shadow masterminds in order to destroy the clans.]]

===[[Wars of Reaving]]===
[[Advancing the Storyline|Fed up with having to write more stuff about clans nobody cares about]], a bunch of clans were wiped out after the Jihad, or driven out of clan territory. While the in-story explanation is that a butthurt ilKhan decided it was time to make a powerplay after not having won anything out of the Inner Sphere Invasion, everyone knows that there were several clans that had no discernable effect on the game.
*'''''Annihilated or Absorbed:'''''
**Blood Spirit: Got wiped out for using civilian militias which "isn't clan-like" and [[Bullshit|marked for annihilation for letting people fight for their homes instead of cooperating with their new leaders as Clan honor dictates.]] As well as using [[Planetary Defense Force|en-mass civilian militias]] to attack their enemies.
**Burrock: Tried to re-establish themselves after being absorbed, got defeated.
**Fire Mandrill: Too fractured to fight back effectively during the Wars of Reaving. What was left of them got absorbed by the Goliath Scorpions and other Homeworld Clans
**Ice Hellion: [[Fail|Killed themselves by trying to steal Jade Falcon and Hell's Horses territory.]] The remaining survivors joined Goliath Scorpion.
**Steel Viper: Took over the Clan Homeworlds and gave everyone free reign to remove the “taint” of the Invader Clans by any means necessary. Forgot that they themselves were an Invader Clan.
**Nova Cat: Destroyed by the Draconis Combine for being on the losing side of a civil war.
*'''''Exiled or Abjured:''''' These clans were forced out of the Clan Homeworlds on the pretense of being "corrupted" by Inner Sphere influences. Some later formed the '''Council of Six Clans''', representing the clans that now exist in the Inner Sphere.
**Ghost Bears: Banished to the Inner Sphere and eventually founded the '''Rasalhague Dominion.''' Joined the Council.
**Goliath Scorpion: Originally sided with the Homeworld Clans to drive the Invader Clans out of the Kerensky Cluster. Then was censured and abjured for absorbing Clan Ice Hellion Warriors and Star League descended mercenaries from Eridani Light Horse in their Clan eugenics program without permission. Ran away and conquered Nueva Castile and Umayyads (Spaniards vs. Arabs IN SPACE) in the Deep Periphery, forming '''Escorpion Imperio.''' By the eve of the Dark Age, they had also conquered their neighbors to the south, the Hanseatic League, and founded a new major Periphery power known as the '''Scorpion Empire''' that's second only to the Homeworld Clans as a military power in the Periphery.
**Hell's Horses: Stole some of Clan Wolf's territory in the Inner Sphere, and end up getting banished from the Clan Homeworlds. Developed a taste for experimenting with QuadVee Mechs (which can convert from a ground combat vehicle into a Quad Mech while also requiring a dedicated gunner). Joined the Council.
**Jade Falcon: Banished to the Inner Sphere and tried to conquer Terra but failed. Still rules the parts of the Inner Sphere they conquered during the Clan Invasion. Replaced the Smoke Jaguars as the most vicious clan under their latest Khan (who's willing to do anything to kill her enemies). Joined the Council. Later got most of their forces wiped out from omnicidal fighting against the Republic, Dragoons, and Wolves on Terra. Said genocidal Khan got killed off and replaced with a pragmatic reformer who agreed to follow the Wolf IlKhan in exchange for the Turquoise Turkeys becoming the IlKhan's body guards.
**Sea Fox/Diamond Shark: Ended up in what's left of the Free Worlds League. Split up into semi-independent merchant fleets and are now a collection of nomadic "Khanates" that sail the starlanes of the Inner Sphere. Joined the Council, but also joined the FWL as a member state. In the meantime, managed to bring the Sea Fox back from extinction, and changed back to their old name.
**Smoke Jaguar: Some of them showed up as super-secret Clanner loyalists called '''Fidelis''' to the Republic of the Sphere. More practical minded than their grandparents but just as likely to go [[rip and tear|berserk]] when fighting any clan warriors for their perceived betrayal. Still in the Fortress Republic. A scant few are found hiding in the Deep Periphery with the few warships that they still had. Later somehow let go of their grudge to pledge allegiance to the Wolve Khan in exchange for reforming their Clan under the IlKhan's protection.
**Snow Raven: Ran away and merged with the Outworlds Alliance in the Periphery, forming the '''Raven Alliance.''' Joined the Council.
**Spirit Cat: What's left of Nova Cats, allied with the Free Worlds League and formed an enclave in their territory with sponsorship from House Marik and Clan Sea Fox.
**Wolf: Splintered into several factions. Basically conquered the central and coreward territories of Lyran Alliance under the '''Wolf Empire.''' Making the Steiners have a bigger headache, their Khan, Katrina Steiner's descendant, claimed the mantle of Archon through her bloodline. Wolves-in-Exile refuse to join and are doing their own thing. Clan Wolf-Alliance joined the Council. “Katrina Steiner’s descendant” is in fact a Trueborn Clanner that Katherine Steiner-Davion had made using both her own genetic material and Victor Steiner-Davion’s, because regular incest just wasn’t crazy enough for her. Later became IlKhan <strike>naturally</strike>.
*'''''Home Clans:''''' Theses clans still hold territory in the Clan Homeworlds and consider themselves "True Clans."
**Cloud Cobra: Still around.
**Coyote: Sneaky bastards. Got their hands on the genetic material of one of Clan Wolves's founders. Outside of the universe, unreliable rumors hint that said founder may have been the last known descendant of House Cameron.
**Star Adder: TOP DOG. Their Khan was the one who stopped the psycho Steel Viper ilKhan by dint of beating his head inside out with the nearest handy blunt object.
**Stone Lions: Made from the Hell's Horses who were left in the Clan Homeworlds and didn't get exiled.

So basically there are now ten Clans: The six Spheroid Clans, and the four Home Clans. The rest are either dead, formed hybrid societies, or are even more minor than before and thus save the writers from some hard work in upcoming TROs.

==The Appeal of Battletech==
First and most obvious, giant stompy Battlemechs bristling with guns duking it out is cool. But despite that, Battletech is in general a more grounded and human setting. You don't have warp daemons, God Emperors, energy forces or psionic powers in Battletech or giant Space Cathedrals and machines that work better when people pray to them. Nor does it have artificial gravity, shields, sapient aliens, serious transhumanism, dyson spheres, general AI and other more wild science fiction ideas. While it does go into some suspense of belief in technology such as KF-FTL drive and HPG-FTL communications, most of the technology is still grounded within the realm of plausible belief. Society-wise, it doesn't go into the speculation on how civilization may come into conflict with divergent ideals or extraterrestrial life, instead you have human people like you and me struggling in a hostile universe where the most dangerous thing is often another human being under another flag. Not that the setting lacks for variety; the main factions are very well developed with their own distinct motivations, even if they do sometimes tend to lean into stereotypes. Battletech is for people who read [[Dune]] and find the idea of the Atreides, Harkonnens, Corinos and the other Great Houses of the Landsraad with their conflicts and their power plays to be far more interesting than what happened after Paul took over. Some others also consider it similar to a teen rated version of [[A Song of Ice and Fire|Game of Thrones]] in space (but with mechs and sci fi tactics in place of mythical creatures and gore).

Battletech is one of the more morally grey settings out there. Moreso than many Grimdark settings where it's a matter of nasty jerks vs literal demons. While there are a few factions which are better or worse than others on the whole ([[Magistracy of Canopus]] vs [[Clan Smoke Jaguar]]) all of the factions have their share of virtue and vice, heroes and villains. Good people can come up from the Nobility of the Federated Suns, Citizens of the Capellan Confederation or the Iron Wombs of The Clans, as can a lot real nasty bastards. In that regard, this is a rather tragic universe. In this universe nobody is corrupted by Chaos or seduced by the Dark Side. Instead humanity took to the stars and flourished, only to be brought low because their leaders were in the end just human with human failings.

As far as Mecha design goes, Battletech designs run the gamut from box-on-legs (Awesome, Dragon, etc), to egg-on-legs (Catapult, Marauder, etc), through to very polished designs (which were mostly stolen from Japanese anime shows). Wrong, they hired a third party artist who sold his designs to them and the other guys. Some of the later work, post-FASA, could be quite smooth, to the point of organic looking. As such, BattleTech is a pastiche of various art styles and design philosophies, covering the range of reactions from "cool-but-impractical", to "eh, practical-and-possible", and well out into the area that will make your engineering professor have a mental fit.

Lastly from a hobbyist perspective, BattleTech tries to make itself as accessable as possible. It's set up more like a [[board game]] than a miniatures wargame. The basic rules are free online, and you're allowed to represent a mech with anything you can fit in the hex grid — including paper cutouts, so you can pick up and play with anyone willing to learn the rules with you.

==Mechanics==
[[Image:Group-Plastic-Miniatures.jpg|thumb|right|The standard use of hexmaps renders the purchase of miniatures optional, though miniatures rules for the game are available.]]
[[Image:Blankrecordsheet.jpg|thumb|right|Record sheets are one of ''BattleTechs''' greatest blessings and curses.]]
The basic mechanic is simple. Two six-sided dice are used, with a to-hit (Equal or greater to) system. Initiative is interlaced, with the loser moving first and the winner able to react. All weapons damage is technically done at the same time, and therefore who shoots first is insignificant, although the order in which weapons fire from any given unit resolves is important. Larger weapons can scrub off large quantities of ablative armor, while smaller multi-hit weapons stand a better chance of forcing critical hits once a location is damaged. If you get hit, you mark off the weapons damage rating from your armor. If the shot penetrates your armor, you roll potential criticals. Firing weapons and moving about generates heat, which you must keep down to keep your 'Mech working properly.

Unlike games such as ''[[Warhammer]]'', where many units are either killed on the first shot or left unscathed, and little information is recorded, ''BattleTech'' uses record sheets to mark off each 'Mech's cumulative damage, ammunition, pilot status, and heat. Also, there are hit locations, so limbs can be blown off. The record sheets allow for effects that are more detailed, but this also increases the overall playtime. Although expert players can get through matches just as fast as players of other games of more or less equal size, new players often find that the game plays slowly. This is usually due to the time spent referencing hit-location tables, critical effects, etc. For new players, 2V2 matches are best, with 4V4 matches being the "cap", in order to have games that do not take excessively long. More experienced players can run games of 12v12 or larger in an afternoon, though these will often be multi-player games in which each ''player'' controls only a handful of 'Mechs.

One of the biggest appeals of ''BattleTech'' is that all of its units are made with a predefined set of rules. Custom designs are fully possible, though they are not likely to be welcome in tournament matches or pick-up games.

''BattleTech'' uses a build system based on 'Mech tonnage. You start with a Chassis limit, from 20-100 tons. You then determine engine size based on how fast you want your 'Mech to be (how many hexes you want it to be able to move per turn) you then allocate the remaining tonnage to control systems, weapons, ammo and armor. This method varies slightly depending on the technology of the chassis, but not overmuch. Though the system has recently been removed, there were previously three levels of technology.

'''Level 1''' (Now called "Introductory Tech") referred to early-era gameplay. Only the more rudimentary weapons and technologies are available, though the critical rules remain the same. This is the preferred level at which to learn, and is synonymous with the equipment available during the Succession Wars era. It is also the level of play made possible with starter boxes.

'''Level 2''' was Tournament-level gameplay. This introduced new equipment and electronics, as well as Clan technology (A more technologically advanced, but militant people). Though the rules are generally the same as those in level 1 gameplay, more-complicated equipment such as ECM, anti-missile systems, cluster munitions, etc. were better suited to more experienced players. It is the level of play made possible with separately-purchased rulebooks. Note that as the in-universe timeline advances, some more-advanced technology is designated "tournament-level", and several items that were Level 3 before the switch are also now "Tournament-Level".

'''Level 3''' referred to all advanced gameplay and equipment, including specialized gear from Historical manuals and the ''Solaris VII'' boxed sets/adventures. This has since been split out into "advanced", "experimental", and "era-specific" technology. This also included all equipment that was not listed in the core rulebooks. More complex rules were inserted in order to increase the realism and flexibility of the game. These include new weapons, new or altered terrain rules, artillery, alternate rules for major mechanics such as line-of-sight, etc. Though Level 3 rules included "prototype" equipment not printed in the core rulebooks, the standard rulebook in regards to Level 3 play was called ''Maxtech''. This has now been replaced by the Catalyst Games release of ''Tactical Operations'' and its sequels.

'''Advanced''' technology (not to be confused with "advanced rules" is covered largely in ''Tactical Operations'', and may be common but incorporates additional rules or restrictions that make it difficult to use without preparation.

'''Experimental''' tech is not mass-produced in-universe. The items are used in one-offs, prototype designs, and other weirdness. The ''Experimental Technical Readout'' series showcases this tech level, and most of the rules are in ''Tactical Operations'' or ''Strategic Operations''.

'''Era-specific''' technology incorporates advancements that were later abandoned in-verse. Usually these items were displaced by a superior version of the same technology, although there are some like the Listen-Kill missiles (which exploited a weakness in standard ECM protocols, later patched out) which are simply active for a few years and then abandoned once changing circumstances make them ineffective. Era-specific tech is the province of Historical sourcebooks, the ''Interstellar Operations'' rulebook, and a few campaign books.

==Spinoff Games==
Due to its popularity through the late 80s and early 90s, ''BattleTech'' spawned a multitude of spinoffs and expansion games.

'''[[Lost Worlds]]''' dueling books. NOVA adapted their melee dueling system to make four books for Battletech mecha. Each book has the opponent's view of the mech on each page, and a character sheet listing possible maneuvers. Since it used the same system as the rest of their books, you could have "20-ton Locust vs. skeleton with scimitar" duels.

'''Mechwarrior''' was a traditional pen-and-paper RPG set in the Battletech universe, using a ruleset similar to FASA's other hit RPG [[Shadowrun]]. It got second(1991) and third(1999) editions, then was later rebooted by Fanpro and Catalyst Games under the respective titles ''Classic Battletech RPG'' and '''Battletech: A Time of War''', likely to avoid conflation with WhizKids' ''Mechwarrior: Dark Age''. Also because by then the "Mechwarrior" title was fully associated with the video games.

'''AeroTech''' and '''BattleSpace''' were both games featuring Aerospace Fighters and DropShips/WarShips respectively, fighting in orbit before any of the action in the BattleTech game itself could begin. Both games eventually got absorbed into BattleTech's rules in the ''Total Warfare'' edition.

'''Battletroops''' was an infantry-scale game about the PBI who fight it out it in the shadow of Battlemechs. It later gained ''Clantroops'', an expansion pack that incorporated clan equipment as well as Battle Armor on both sides, but the game did not sell as well and the rules have since been abandoned.

'''Battleforce''' was a revision of '''BattleTech''', made in recognition of the fact that large-scale combat could not be effectively played out using the current system. Battleforce simplified each 'mech into a simple set of numbers, so that they could be clustered into units and fight over a much larger area. Battleforce 2, released about a decade later, also introduced planetary invasion maps and rules to go along with them. Although the maps are available in Map Compilation 2, the rules will be reprinted in the ''Strategic Operations'' and ''Interstellar Operations'' sourcebooks.

The '''Solaris VII Boxed set''' was made to simulate the fast-paced gladiatorial combat on the game's world of Solaris VII. It included new rules, new maps with special rules, new mechs, and supplements for roleplaying. Little known fact: some of the designs used in the original Solaris VII set were redesigns of the ''BattleTech'' 'mechs which were themselves copies of Japanese mechs! When the product tried to sell in Japan, half of the designs were already copyrighted by other well known anime companies, and the in-house designs were simply not "Japanese" enough for their tastes. Though the product itself flopped, its maps were reprinted and rereleased in 2004, as well as a complimentary up-to-date rulebook. Rules have since been standardized to match those of ''Classic Battletech'', but "Special Map rules" have been included.

The '''BattleTech Collectible Cardgame''' was produced by Wizards of the Coast in 1996, and ran until 1998. Though its popularity had begun to wane after the first core set, the release of the Pokemon card game was the nail in the coffin. The Battletech CCG hosted some very impressive artwork, though the game favored swarm-decks filled with plenty of weak, cheap 'mechs, and it's non-"Creature" cards were too weak to have an effective deck based around them. After five editions (''Battletech Limited''/''Unlimited'', ''Counterstrike'', ''Mercenaries'', ''Mechwarrior'', ''Arsenal'') Battletech CCG came out with ''Commander's Edition'', which picked some of the best cards of the last few editions (though it abandoned or revised some cards for inaccuracies or "brokenness") It had one final expansion, Crusade, which introduced the Steel Viper clan, though there were some prior cards that did reference the clan.

In July, 2013, Catalyst Game Labs released '''Alpha Strike''', a miniatures combat ruleset designed specifically to appeal to fans of Warhammer and Flames of War. It combined BattleForce statistics with improved miniatures rules. It's generally scoffed at by grognards but the only feasible way to play a regiment-sized battle in less than one lifetime.

==Video Games==
'''Official Games'''
* Crescent Hawk's Inception (Infocom, 1988)
* MechWarrior (Activision, 1989)
* Crescent Hawks' Revenge (Infocom, 1990)

* MechWarrior II (Activision, 1995)
* MechWarrior II: Mercernaries (Activision 1995)
** MechCommander (FASA, 1998)
* MechWarrior III (Microprose, 1999)
* MechWarrior IV: Vengeance (FASA/Microsoft, 2000), Black Knight (Microsoft, 2001), Mercenaries (Microsoft, 2002)
** These games had two expansions that gave more mechs, the Inner Sphere Mech Pack and Clan Mech Pack.
** MekTek released a legal port of Mercenaries, with both Mech Packs, new mechs, and battlesuits all inside, plus multiplayer support. Grab it from ModDB, abandonware sites, or your tracker of choice.
* Mechassault 1 (Day 1/Microsoft, 2002 for Xbox)
* Mechassault 2: Lone Wolf (Day 1/Microsoft, 2004 for Xbox)
* MechCommander II (FASA/Microsoft, 2001. The full game is offered by Microsoft for free [http://www.microsoft.com/en-ph/download/details.aspx?id=11457 here].)
* MechWarrior Online MMO (Smith & Tinker/Piranha Games, A F2P game first released on 2012 and currently out as a full product on Steam.)
* MechWarrior Tactical Command (Personae Studios, 2012?, [[Fail|for iPhone/iPad]]. After some uncertainty, MTC was fully released in the iTunes store. Too bad it sucks.)
* BattleTech (Harebrained Schemes, 2018) - funded through Kickstarter and headed up by Jordan Weisman)
** Turn-based strategy game, similar to the original tabletop game. Takes place during the Succession Wars, in a formerly empty area of the Periphery.
*MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries: (Piranha Games, 2019). Also takes place during the Succession Wars. Because nobody wants to take the time to portray the cluster fuck that is the Blake Jihad properly.

'''Unlicensed Games'''
* [http://www.mechlivinglegends.net Mechwarrior Living Legends] (Wandering Samurai/Clan Jade Wolf, 2011)

'''The following are free, homemade versions of Battletech:'''
* MechWar v1.12 (MS-DOS)
* [http://megamek.info/ MegaMek] (Java)
* BTMUX - ASCII-only MMO (anyone old enough to remember what a MUD is?) (any OS) You could play it in pure ASCII, or get [http://bt-thud.sourceforge.net/thud/ a graphical helper] Most of the existing ones are gone, but [http://frontiermux.com/news.php FrontierMUX] seems to still be alive.
* <strike>[http://neveron.com/ Neveron] (web-based mmo)</strike> [Taken offline on July 31st 2014]
* [http://www.titansofsteel.de/ Titans of Steel] (MS-Windows)

==Current State==
[[File:Never give up.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Little Urbie, the greatest of us all.]]
As of 2022, Battletech is in the best state it's been in a long time. After sitting on the property for close to a decade without doing anything, Catalyst has used Kickstarter to fund a series of plastic mech sculpts. Lots of this was enabled by finally resolving the legal dispute with Harmony Gold on the Unseen, but the end result is that, for the first time ever, a wide range of high quality plastic mech miniatures are legitimately available. There's a "dip your toe" style starter kit with the Beginner Box, the true starter kit in Battletech: A Game of Armored Combat, and another for the clans with Clan Invasion. Beyond those, there's a total of twenty different "Force Packs" available, each having 4-6 mechs centered on a theme of some sort. Since you only need about one Force Pack's worth of mechs to play at all, ease of starting the game is definitely one of Battletech's major virtues now.

===MechWarrior Online===
[http://mwomercs.com/ Mechwarrior Online] has, as of this writing, been running for a decade and only now showing signs of slowing down (and as of 2022, the purchase of PGI by EG7 has seen this reversed, with new development going into MWO, including the first new Mech Pack since 2019). A competitive sim-shooter, Mechwarrior Online has probably been a commercial success and helped get at least some people into the hobby, but its main virtue was as a source of redesigned mechs. 3D prints of models from MWO are easily found on Etsy, providing modern looks for mechs that CGL hasn't gotten around to resculpting yet.

===Battletech 2018===
Harebrained Schemes announced their return to Kickstarter in fall 2015 in order to fund [http://battletechgame.com/ Battletech], a turn based tactics game featuring RPG mechanics for Mechs and MechWarriors. The final result was a very respectable strategy game - you play as a mercenary company commander in the year 3025, starting with a patchy collection of low grade mechs and keeping your aging DropShip from falling apart around you. Gameplay is fairly close to the tabletop but not an exact recreation. The campaign follows a power struggle for control of the Aurigan Reach, a region of mostly unimportant space at the rimward end of the map, between the Magistracy of Canopus and the Taurian Concordat. The game was followed up by three DLCs - Flashpoint, which added a series of mini-campaigns of 2-3 missions each, most of them tying into Battletech canon, Urban Warfare, which naturally added urban environments, and Heavy Metal, which added more mechs and a series of flashpoint campaigns surrounding the crash-site of a lost Star League era JumpShip with [[Clan Wolverine|obscured origins]]. Overall, Battletech 2018 is probably the standout Battletech game of the 2010s and a great strategy game in its own right.

Several fan-made mod packs (notably [https://www.nexusmods.com/battletech/mods/79/ RogueTech] and [https://www.nexusmods.com/battletech/mods/452/ BattleTech Advanced 3062]) have been produced which significantly extend the life of the vanilla game. These mods introduce many new factions, dozens of new 'Mechs and tanks, hundreds of new pieces of 'Mech equipment, a far larger star-map sandbox to play in, and far more depth to the 'Mech customization system as well as many quality of life changes. RogueTech in particular attempts to bring the game more in line with the tabletop experience and offers a much higher degree of gameplay complexity compared to vanilla Battletech.

===Mercenaries 5===
Oof. Well, they gave it a shot. After over a decade since the last Mechwarrior game, Mechwarrior 5 was released and it was...kind of a flop. Repetitive missions and buggy AI were the primary issues, and the post-launch DLCs and bug fixes only did so much to help. As of this writing, mod support has been added, so the fans might make MW5 worth it at some point...but for now, don't bother.

As of 2022, the game is now playable with all of the DLC. Notably, MW5 has incorporated melee combat in free updates, and is adding melee weapons with the next DLC. In hindsight, it's rather jarring realizing that we have been playing giant robot games without the ability to rock 'em and sock 'em. Melee better fucking get added to MWO to balance the all-powerful lights against the heavies and assaults they so often hard-counter.

==The Tetatae (Skub Tribal Jungle Chickens)==

There is only 1 known sapient Xenos race in the BattleTech setting. The Tetatae are tribal bird people armed with spears who inhabit a Jungle World. They show up in a far-off world in uncharted space populated with some stranded humans from the Draconis Combine. The inclusion of sapient species was such a [[Rage|controversial]] [[Fail|action]] that the novel introducing them, Far Country, was promptly ignored by both the lore developers and fans ever since it came out.

According to the author the book was suppose to be the first of a canned series of books linked to a also reduced in scale tabletop expansion/campaign pack that would had dealt with the attempt to find the Clan Home-worlds by Comstar's Explorer Corps's (something started in the wake of a few events in the backstory to try to find the SLDF exiles only to end up ironically causing the clans to invade when one of their ship stumbles on the Smoke Jaguar's home system) that would had included potential alien encounters in their searches, instead of the full on expansion/campaign they decided to scale it into a source book minus alien encounters.

(Should be noted that this story was properly retconned. Far Country is an In-universe TV show. The same way the Battletech TV show is just a in-universe production).

==External links==
*[http://megamek.sf.net Play through the tubes with MegaMek]
*[http://www.sarna.net Battletech Wiki that holds much information about the universe]
*[http://bgb.booru.org/index.php Blue Gunner Booru, a /btg/-maintained taggable gallery of BT and related art. Perpetually in-progress.]
[[Category:Wargames]][[Category:Skirmish-Level Wargames]][[Category:BattleTech]]

==Gallery==
<center>
<gallery>
File:Glorious_3d_Terrain.JPG|Glorious 3d terrain
File:More_Glorious_3d_Terrain.JPG|More glorious 3d terrain
File:Infantry_Strike_From_Behind_As_The_Kuritian_Lance_Takes_On_4_Steiner_Mechs_And_6_Tanks.JPG|Infantry strike from behind as the Kuritan lance takes on 4 Steiner mechs and 6 tanks
File:Kuritians_Advancing.JPG|Kuritans advancing
File:Surrounded.JPG|Kick party
File:Eridani_Light_Horses_MechWarrior.png|Bad mofo
File:You're_awesome.jpg
File:Dougram_and_shadowhawk_comparison.png|The original anime mecha Dougram (left) compared to the original "unseen" Shadowhawk (center) and the modern Shadowhawk (right), a robot so badass it transcends cultures and 4chan boards
</gallery>
</center>

==Factions Portal==
{{Battletech Factions}}
[[Category: BattleTech]]

==/tg/ Battletech Creations==
*[[Velatine Federal Republic]]
*[[/tg/ Homebrew Mech Designs]]
*[[Sunbats mercenary company]]
*[[/btg/ Harebrained Battalion II]]

BattleTech

2022-05-04T19:51:14Z

2607:FB90:6FF4:7A06:D087:A795:6215:797A: /* Minor Powers */

{{awesome}}
[[Image:NEW-BT-LOGOFLAT.png|NEW-BT-LOGOFLAT.png|center]]
{{Game Infobox
|name = BattleTech
|picture = [[Image:NEW-BT-LOGOFLAT.png|200px]]
|type = [[Wargame]]
|publisher = [[Catalyst Game Labs]]
|playno = Billions
|year = 1984
|books = Total Warfare or The BattleMech Manual
}}
{{topquote|It is the 31st century, a time of endless wars that rage across human-occupied space. As star empires clash, these epic wars are won and lost by BattleMechs, 23-56 foot tall humanoid metal titans bristling with lasers, autocannons and dozens of other lethal weapons; enough firepower to level entire city blocks. Your elite force of MechWarriors drives these juggernauts into battle, proudly holding your faction's flag high, intent on expanding the power and glory of your realm. At their beck and call are the support units of armored vehicles, power armored infantry, aerospace fighters and more, wielded by a MechWarrior's skillful command to aid him in ultimate victory. Will they become legends, or forgotten casualties? Only your skill and luck will determine their fate!|Product promotional tagline}}

'''BattleTech''', or '''MechWarrior''' as most of the non-neckbearded populace know it, is a tabletop wargame about armies of giant robots fighting one another for honor, money, and territory in a far-distant feudal future. Think [[Star Wars]] AT-STs, or [[Warhammer 40,000]]'s [[Imperial Knight|Imperial Knights]] (Games Workshop decided they liked Battlemechs too). It’s also perhaps the most realistic example of walker warfare. Using their size to mount sufficient energy generation and armor that they are fast enough, maneuverable enough, and armored enough that being a bullet magnet does not matter. Using their vertical build to mount numerous huge weapons that each would take up all the space on most tanks modern militaries would consider super-heavy. Usually operating in combined arms warfare and supported by tanks, hovercraft, aircraft, and infantry. Not sinking into the ground like its quicksand because dirt reaches maximum compression very quickly (and thus all anti-mech arguments are rendered invalid by combined arms, armor, power-plant, firepower, and actual science), and so on. The realism of the technology (if not the moronic House Lords and nonsensical events) is so great it could be a glimpse into the future. Y’know, before Bolos come along and replace everything.

This article is mostly concerned with the fluff and story of Battletech. If you're looking for a guide to getting into the game in the first place, check out [[Starting Battletech]].

==Holy Crap, Giant Robots Are Awesome==
[[Image:Batdroid.jpg|thumb|right|''Battledroids'', the first edition of the game, c. 1984. A ''literally''-textbook example on how to get sued nine different ways from Sunday.]]
In the early 1980s, [[Jordan Weisman]] was [[Weeaboo|fascinated]] by several Japanese [[anime]] involving giant robots, or "[[mecha]]." He was quoted as saying that he liked the designs and idea of giant robots fighting on the battlefield, but did not have a taste for the storylines that the Japanese wrote about them. In 1984, Weisman founded [[FASA]] and acquired the licenses to designs from several series, the most famous being ''Super Dimension Fortress Macross,'' though the largest portion came from ''Fang of the Sun Dougram'' and combined them to make Battletech.

The first edition of this game, called ''Battledroids'', was a hex-based boardgame played on a battlefield illustrated with various types of terrain. It came with two large plastic minis of featured mechs, imported from Japan. Initially, sales were mediocre as the sheer size of the mechs made them awkward in gameplay. Soon after the launch of ''Battledroids'' Lucasfilm filed a lawsuit against FASA for using the name "droids," which they had trademarked in 1978. Discretion being the better part of valor, FASA changed the name of the game to Battlemech in time for the second edition printing in 1986. This time, cardboard stand-ins replaced the plastic miniatures, and a tradition was born. To this day, Battletech can be played without purchasing any physical models and with any proxy you please.

Following the release of the second edition, fans of the game clamored for new miniatures. FASA obliged, rescaling their mechs for more convenient play and designing a host of in-house mechs to broaden variety and bridge the gap between the sleek Macross and crude Dougram designs. New models notwithstanding, the third edition, dubbed ''Battletech,'' was shipped with solely Macross- and Dougram-based minis. However, in 1995 [[That Guy|Harmony]] [[Rage|Gold]], an American localization company which had licensed the international distribution and toy rights to SDF Macross, issued a C&D against FASA for the use of all mecha designs from the Macross franchise. FASA ceased production of these miniatures, which were among the most popular designs in the franchise, and published a fourth edition of the game in 1996 again featuring cardboard tokens, which were all based on their own original mechs.

Before '''''Battletech''''', the mecha genre was seen as something that belonged mostly to the Japanese. With few exceptions (''Power Rangers'' and ''Star Wars'', and even then the Mechs from the former were reused footage from Japanese shows), the genre was almost entirely made up of anime productions imported from Japan. Battletech pioneered a new approach to mecha within the Western fandom, featuring mostly stories of pseudo-realistic wars fought by real soldiers rather than teenagers taking on forces of evil or single-handedly winning interplanetary wars, plots that dominated the few mecha series that were subbed by the dedicated VHS fansubbers of the day. More importantly, the physical limitations of the Battlemechs, unlike the limitations of tanks in, say, [[Warhammer 40,000]], are critical to the planning and strategy of outfitting mechs and using them on the tabletop.

===The Mechs===
{{topquote|"Shoot for his cockpit! [[Iron Hands|Kill the meat]], [[Adeptus Mechanicus|save the metal.]]"|Sergeant Robert "Deadeye" Unther (Mechwarrior 2: Mercenaries - Training Tutorial)}}
BattleTech mechs function and are utilized more like tanks with legs than the super-agile flying mecha common in Japanese depictions. Mechs are deployed in formations of four or five, called lances in the Inner Sphere and stars in the Clans. They are able to operate in space, on planets with caustic atmospheres, underwater, and in a wide range of temperatures that would be lethal to unprotected humans. One of the biggest upsides of mechs as combat vehicles is their extreme efficiency-of-arms: an effectively limitless amount of time without requiring fuel due to their fusion reactors alongside hyper-efficient Myomer 'muscles' inside the Battlemech’s limbs that can carry more weapons and armor per-ton than any other combat platform in existence. The only things stopping a mech from being able to fight forever are ammunition, repairs, and allowing the pilot to rest. Even when a mech is destroyed, losing the pilot is a relatively rare occurrence thanks to very effective ejection systems. A destroyed mech chassis can also be salvaged and rebuilt to fight another day, good as new. In the early 3000s setting this means many mechs are often decades or even hundreds of years old, Ship of Theseus-style. Some mechs even have unique identities and/or affiliations with certain royal Houses or mercenary families. Also, as stated in the quote above, it's not uncommon for cash-strapped mercenaries, pirates, or even planetary militia to prioritize aiming for the cockpit and/or forcing Mechwarriors to eject from overheating/battle damage in order to claim the surviving Battlemech wreckage for salvage or as a spoil of war.

As far as locomotion styles, bipedal mechs are the most common, with the weapon systems mounted either in the torso compartments or on the arms. Quadrupedal mechs do exist but are relatively rare, they are slower than bipedal mechs and don't offer the same amount of weapon space for a given weight class and more legs (and more everything else) on a mech means, of course, greater expenses. Even rarer are tripod mechs, generally restricted to experimental super-heavy designs. Bipedal mechs can also grasp things in their hands (if they have them) like melee weapons or pesky tanks. Early versions of BattleTech feature mechs that could transform into fighter planes, but these were dropped relatively quickly in its life cycle due to copyright problems.

The main downside of mechs is their inability to efficiently manage heat buildup. Heat is generated by the fusion reactor, the environment, movement, and mostly as a result of firing weapons. Mechs mount multiple gigantic one-ton heatsink units to deal with this buildup, but it is a constant problem for pilots to manage. Mechs that feature a lot of energy-based weapons will generate especially high levels of heat, and therefore manage very poorly in extremely hot environments. Firing all the weapons of certain mech variants at once (the ''Nova'' mech is most infamous) can cause it to overheat to such an extent that the reactor core melts down before the heatsinks can shunt the heat out of the chassis, which is bad. Safety measures that shut down the entire mech when it reaches a certain temperature threshold are always installed, but since this usually happens in a combat situation, and thus leaves the mech defenseless, some pilots will intentionally disable the safeguards to take their chances. Depending on the technology level of a given game, more efficient heatsinks can be assigned to mechs that remove heat more quickly and allow hotter builds. The fluff also mentions some experimental heatsinks that changed the heat energy to light (<strike>???</strike>Actually plausible, we have been experimenting with this concept irl) but had the downside of making the mech look like a walking rave, as well as heatsinks that utilized caustic liquids to move heat faster but with a limited lifespan.

Weapons consist of three general categories: ballistic, energy, and missile. Each has its own strengths and weakness: ballistic weapons weigh more, require ammo, but do not generate much heat, energy weapons are the opposite, and missiles generate some heat/consume ammo but can be indirectly fired with targeting data from scouts. Outfitting a mech for the proper engagement is key to obtaining victory: mechs outfitted for mech-to-mech combat will generally mount only high-damage weapons with lower ammo counts and slower rates of fire, while mechs set for vehicle and infantry combat will mount weapons that fire quickly but do lower damage per shot. Likewise, mechs that do not expect steady resupply will mount more energy weapons so they are not beholden to ammo counts.

Mechs range between 20 to 100 tons in four weight classes, though a few experimental units lie outside these ranges. The weight classes are light (20-35), medium (40-55), heavy (60-75), and assault (80-100). Considering their size (23-56 feet), that's pretty light; the Maus (33 feet long and 11 feet high) mega-tank that Adolf Hitler demanded weighed 188 tons. (One possible explanation here is that the "tonnage" in a weight class isn't the weight of the mech, but rather the weight available to mount things on the chassis. So an Atlas assault mech has 100 tons of available space for reactor, life support, weapons, armor etc, explaining why various sub-types of a mech drop something and replace it with something else of equal weight. A Flea light mech has 20 tons). Rarer still are super heavy mechs (with weights between 110 to 200 tons). While they are walking fortresses that put even Assault Mechs to shame, they tend to be ridiculously expensive, extremely slow, have issues with supporting that weight, are vulnerable to attacks from swarms of smaller enemies like tanks, and have difficulty installing reactors with sufficient power. Top sustainable speeds of mechs vary from 32.4 kph (20 mph) for the assault ''Annihilator'' to 162 kph (101 mph) for the light ''Firemoth'' scout. Keep in mind that the American M1A1 Abrams tank has a top speed of 72 kph (45 mph) on a paved road and much less crossing difficult terrain. Mechs can also be mounted with rechargeable jump jets that give them the ability to hop across the battlefield or up/down terrain. According to varying fluff depictions, mechs are even able to climb up/down cliff walls and perform flying dropkicks to enemy cockpits, which is awesome.

Depending on where in the timeline the specific game takes place (this is a player choice), there will be two possible classes of mechs: [[BattleMech]]s and [[OmniMech]]s. Battlemechs are the older style, with a set number of variants that cannot be changed in the field. This style was universal in the Inner Sphere before the arrival of the Clans. Omnimechs, a Clan invention, feature a modular construction style and a snap-on software integration which gives them the freedom of changing loadouts quickly. For example, a ''Dragon'' Battlemech comes in a default configuration consisting of one LRM-10, one Autocannon/5, and two medium lasers. The 1C variant replaces the Autocannon/5 with an Autocannon/2 and more armor, while the 5N upgrades the Autocannon/5 to an Ultra Autocannon/5. A pilot must use one of these variants and is incapable of changing the loadout without serious hours-long reworking of the mech's internals in a Mech maintenance facility. Conversely, a ''Mad Dog'' Omnimech comes with a default configuration of two LRM-20s, two medium pulse lasers, and two large pulse lasers. A pilot is able to modify this loadout as they see fit within less than an hour with a technical team, say dropping the two medium pulse lasers for more missile ammo/armor or changing the LRMs to SRMs for short-range engagements.

Like most Western sci-fi series, Battlemechs are somewhat inspired by real theoretical technologies; their weapons range from machine guns (albeit very big ones) and missiles, to coilguns and particle accelerators. The biggest leaps from reality (aside from FTL travel and communications) are the fusion reactor, (a technology still only theoretically possible,) the neurohelmet, (which interfaces with the pilot's brain and keeps the mech upright based on the pilot's own sense of balance,) and the massive muscle-like Myomer fibers that actually allow the mech to move upon being exposed to electrical current.

While Battlemechs dominate the battlefields of Battletech, armored vehicles still have a place. Most of the time, tanks, hovercraft, and APCs are used where mechs would be too expensive (or too advanced) to maintain, or in roles where a mech would be ineffective. This means that, in addition to Battlemechs, one can find infantry, vehicles, aerial vehicles, naval vehicles, and spaceships. It is worth noting that vehicles can be a real threat to Battlemechs in great enough numbers, since they mount the same weapons as mechs. Some tanks can also push the 100-ton limit and sport the gigantic weaponry usually mounted on an Assault mech chassis. In other words, where mechs are [[Space Marines]], the vehicles are more akin to [[Eldar]] Aspects.

Mechs in BattleTech fiction also have a curious tendency to go up in a mini nuclear explosion when their reactor core is breached by weapon fire. Mushroom clouds, explosions, heat, radiation, the whole bit. This has been nicknamed "stackpoling" after BattleTech novel author Michael Stackpole, who includes at least one of these events in each novel he writes. If the reactor was actually breached, what should happen is a meltdown of the reactor (and probably some chunks of the surrounding mech) that quickly burns out because the reactor can't maintain the fusion reaction without proper containment. Reactors are generally incapable of generating an actual nuclear explosion: real-world reactor "explosions" are usually a result of the coolant flash-overheating and generating a pressure-based steam explosion that destroys the reactor building. Lingering radiation would still be a problem of course, but that is usually handwaved away in BattleTech fluff or not mentioned at all.

To get into the actual science of this, a hypothetical fusion reactor wouldn't produce that many radioactive substances. And what few they do would be relatively short lived and would be weak beta emitters. The most likely substance would be Tritium, which is where the stereotypical glow in the dark green radiation comes from. The Mech would glow in the dark but a decent decontamination process would render it mostly harmless. In other words, the stories are right for the wrong reasons.

More on actual science. A containment breach would produce a pretty big explosion. The reactor (assuming H+H fusion, which seems reasonable since we never hear anything about deuterium or H3 mining) would be operating at something close to 15,000,000K temperature and 250,000,000,000 atmospheres of pressure to induce fusion. Assuming there's a couple of cubic meters of gas being contained at those pressures by magnetic fields and surrounded by a few more cubic meters of vacuum, a sudden and catastrophic loss of containment would almost certainly cause an explosion that would cause a mushroom cloud and be easy to mistake for a small nuclear weapon.

==Warfare in the Thirty-first Century==

When somebody decides to attack another world, they load up their 'Mechs (and tanks, and infantry, etc...) onto massive shuttles called DropShips. These boost off into space and link up with Jumpships, semi-mobile Space-Fold drives sitting a ways out into the star's system (due to the limits of BattleTech FTL, Jumpships can't get any closer to a system's star than a radius roughly around the orbit of Saturn in the Sol System. For simplicity's sake, most Jumpships move to the zenith or nadir points directly "above" or "below" the star's orbital plane). The Dropships latch onto the Jumpships, which make a series of jumps from star to star until they reach the target system.

Compared to some sci-fi franchises such as Star Wars or Star Trek, aerospace combat between ships isn’t really that common for several reasons. For one, KF Drive used to propel Jumpships (all of which can’t land on a planet) makes up 95% of its mass and leaves little room for anything else besides Dropship docking ports, basic ship equipment, crew quarters, and the Jumpsail used for recharging the drive. And while Warships do exist with drives half the size as their civilian models, the drives alone are more than five times more expensive to build and are prioritized for only strategically vital missions like real-life Dreadnoughts. In that regard, Battletech’ Jumpships are closer to Dune’s massive but ungainly Heighliners than Star War’s Star Destroyers. As a result, most aerospace combat is dominated by armed Dropships or aerospace fighters. Orbital bombardments and naval blockades are a thing but not typically used frequently due to how much firepower is required for a planetary scale.

Once they reach the target, the Dropships detach from the Jumpships and burn deeper into the system towards the planet. Now Jumpships aren't stealthy, so anyone on the target planet likely detected their entrance into the system, and it typically takes Dropships seven days (varies dramatically for each star system) to reach the planet. Surprise attacks are nearly impossible, and defenders will have up to a week to get ready (some clever or smart people try to shave time by trying to match the target world's orbit with a nonstandard point closer to the planet, or even rare "Pirate" points caused by gravity interactions between celestial bodies, but even this usually gives defenders at least a day to prepare, not to mention the hilarious habit of Pirate points to just mangle dropships attempting to use them beyond recognition). Of course, these aren’t actually rare and we have quite a number of them around Earth, the moon, and every other celestial body including the sun. So close that by BattleTech standards it would take probably just a few minutes to reach the Earth from one of its own null gravity points. Seeing as their dropships can reach Sol's top or bottom null-G in just a few days.

As the invading force reaches planetary orbit, the defenders will usually try to intercept them with their own defensive ships, usually Dropships, Shuttles, Aerospace Fighters, and Conventional Fighters (like the [['Mechbuster]]) while the Attackers will launch fighters of their own. Space battle will begin in earnest as the defenders try to keep the enemy from landing on world at all (FASA originally had two separate games, Aerotech and Battlespace, that dealt with this stage of combat, but current BattleTech rules incorporate Aerospace combat for those who prefer it or want the full Theater of War experience).

If the Attackers can break through orbit, they can choose their landing site (usually near the target of course). The enemy will deploy to stop them and battle begins in earnest with ground combat typically consisting of combined arms use of infantry, battle armored troops, conventional armored vehicles, artillery, and BattleMechs. Meanwhile, any air assets in the form of aerospace or conventional fighters will duke it out to secure air superiority for shipping reinforcements via air drop or trying to take out enemy ground units from above.

==Fluff==
[[File:Mad_Cat.jpg|300px|thumb|right|The [[Timber Wolf]] (Mad Cat if you're <s>Inner Sphere</s> <s>Freebirth Scum</s> Degrazi), one of the most iconic BattleMechs in the series.]]
{{topquote|''A thousand horrid Prodigies foretold it.
A feeble government, eluded Laws,
A factious Populace, luxurious Nobles,
And all the maladies of stinking states.''|Dr. Samuel "What The Fuck Am I Reading" Johnson}}
Much like [[Games Workshop|Warhammer]], the Battletech franchise has an extensive expanded universe. Dozens of books, numerous spinoff games, video games in multiple genres, and even an animated cartoon have delved into the setting and created an entertaining, if convoluted, history that has real influences on how the game is played. Unlike Warhammer, there are no [[Xenos]] (outside of some cavemen-like species), so humans get all the glory (and blame).

===History of the Inner Sphere===
After a period of typical [[Cold War]]-era speculative history: in details, the Soviet leadership is inherited by a fictional hardliner in the 80s and the Union survives until the 2010s where it splits in the Second Soviet Civil War (this was retconned in as the game was made when the USSR hadn't collapsed yet). The appointment of a hardliner leads to NATO reforming into the Western Alliance along with the proto-EU. The Western Alliance helps the split post-Soviet Eurasian states, is joined by China and other Asian countries after a brief crisis and eventually mankind was mostly united under the Western Alliance, having renamed itself to the Terran Alliance and discovered how to travel faster-than-light by opening up artificial wormholes. By 2235, most of mankind's interstellar colonies, already mistrustful of the heavy-handed Alliance, threw off the yoke of the Alliance in the "'''Outer Reaches Rebellion'''" and formed their own stellar nation-states. What followed was a period of war and chaos which led to the rise of the "'''Great Houses'''," feudal dynasties of powerful families adhering to various pseudo-historical ideals (like Kurita's Japan fetishism, specifically the most evil aspects of WWII Japan and every other Asian countries' worst parts of their histories up to eleven) competing for total dominance of mankind. However Terra, as Earth became known after its Latin name, remained the most technologically-advanced star nation, and remained unconquered by the competing Great Houses who turned their focus on one another instead. Shortly after the eve of this "'''Age of War'''" once the Terran Alliance left the far-off colonies to fend for themselves, the Terran Alliance’s bickering political parties were subject to a coup by the charismatic Admiral James McKenna with support from the populace. He reformed the Alliance into the Terran Hegemony and eventually, his titles were inherited by a distant cousin in House Cameron. In addition, both the colonies and Terra began placing more emphasis on nobility-based peerage to handle planetary governance, education, and manufacturing instead of the loathed vote-buying that defined the corrupt Alliance. This is one of the reasons for the severe technological stagnation that is a hallmark of the Battletech universe. After all, any idiot knows that destroying a factory or all of a certain factory production and all such factories means the knowledge of how to build their products magically disappears and the knowledge of how to build those factories poofed away the moment they were built anyway as that is the only explanation conceivable for why destroyed factories were not simply replaced and why the knowledge disappeared from every paper, computer, and mind; after all, universities and libraries can still preserve knowledge while remaining civilian institutions. Obviously space magic is to blame...or exceptionally short-sighted writers who’ll wave it off as [[Medieval Stasis |neo-feudalism in space]]. The main reason for the lack of tech was due to the Terran Hegemony hoarding most of the good tech for themselves and the Star League Defence Force. ER Lasers, XL Fusion engines, Pulse Lasers and so on were all SLDF exclusives, and the vast majority of advanced tech was only produced in the Terran Hegemony, which was utterly wrecked in the [[Amaris Civil War]]. Universities and libraries were nuked alongside military targets, and the Battletech universe lacks a true internet expy, making dissemenating information even by HPG a slow, expensive process. Any advanced tech factories or research institutes left after the Amaris Civil War vanished in the nuclear firestorm of the First Succession War. It took 80 years of more or less constant warfare before the great houses decided that blowing up civillian targets wasn't such a good idea. AND THEN, Comstar decided that nobody but them should have nice things so they started assassinating anyone who might make things better and stealing their research. Nobody really bothered trying to build a new university for actual research until 3015, when the Davions built the NAIS and the moment it looked like the NAIS might actually make some progress in reversing the technological decline, Comstar tried to blow it up. They failed, and the Federated Suns figuring out that Comstar was behind the attack marked the start of the decline in Comstar's influence.

To be clear, the given reason for how the neo-feudalism came about was due to oppression, social inertia, and interstellar communication lag. Before the invention of the HPG in 2630 (5 centuries after the KF Drive) it took weeks and months for planets to send updates on their status to their national capital and the entirety of the nation. Yet other than the Federated Suns good bois and to an extent the Lyran Commonwealth, most other nations don't have the same problems that destroyed the Alliance despite being oppressive. Super oppressive. Which begs one to question how the hell the Outer Reaches Rebellion happened outside of the same tension that tore the Star League apart later. And it still doesn't explain how the neo-feudalism came about as it would make much more sense to have technocratic administrators selected by merit to manage regions of space instead of giving someone and their offspring the level of authority an ancient noble would have had. Perhaps it began the same way some monarchies are known to have: lords (or whatever name for a rose you want to use) being basically miniature kings of their local areas who united and elected a royal dynasty from among their number to handle external affairs beyond their national borders.

In 2349, the Terran Hegemony introduced the first Battlemech, the 100-ton ''Mackie'', and the face of war changed forever.

===Mechs Just Got Real===
The introduction of the ''Mackie'' shifted the focus of military development away from interstellar Warships back to ground forces. The Terran Hegemony was able to prove that the 100-ton Battlemech was far superior to conventional ground vehicles (interestingly, the Terran Hegemony's main battle tank was <s>the Israeli Merkava</s> named Merkava but utterly unrelated to the Israeli tank of the same name), allowing a single man to destroy formations of opposing non-Mechs. Of course, the rest of the Inner Sphere wanted the same capability, and in 2355 the plans for the Battlemech were stolen (as usual, the writers don’t realize that stealing a design is pointless if you don’t know how to build all the parts...like myomer (Myomer that was already a popular material throughout the Inner Sphere, used in the IndustrialMechs before the Mackie was even a concept). ). The Age of the Battlemech had begun.

During the next hundred years, as the Great Houses vied for supremacy and founded the nucleus of the future Successor States, the Terran Hegemony was able to exert great influence as the most technologically-advanced and neutral of the great powers. This would lead to the creation of the '''''Star League''''' in 2571, a grand union of all of humanity's interstellar nations. While ostensibly created for the purpose of uniting mankind and keeping the peace between the stars, it was also a massive power play by Terra to secure the raw materials it needed to maintain its technological edge and once more bring mankind under Terra's dominion. In keeping with the feudal society that now dominated mankind's worlds, the position of First Lord of the Star League was invested in Terra's ruling House, the Cameron dynasty.

While Hidden Wars would plague the Star League throughout its reign, no conflicts were fought between its members as long as the Star League Defense Force kept the peace between factions. Terra's hoard of advanced technologies were shared freely among the worlds of man, and a new Golden Age descended. It all came to an end in 2766. The last of the Camerons was assassinated by Stefan Amaris, a power-hungry politician from the Periphery, the ring of interstellar nations that had refused to join the Star League and had been conquered for their trouble. Claiming the mantle of Emperor of the Star League and Director-General of the Terran Hegemony, Amaris was immediately denounced by the commander of the SLDF, Aleksandr Kerensky.

===A New Dark Age===
[[File:Aleksandr Kerensky.jpg|thumb|right|"Fuck you guys, I'm out." - Aleksandr Kerensky, Great Father of Clans]]
The [[Amaris Civil War]] destroyed the League, and led to a new Dark Age. The Great Houses, throwing off their loyalty to Terra, refused to aid either Amaris or Kerensky, and waited for the war to pass. Kerensky emerged the victor, but with the Cameron dynasty ended the other Great Houses began to vie for position of First Lord of the Star League. Disgusted by the politicking and betrayal, in 2784 Kerensky took the greater portion of the SLDF into exile beyond the Periphery. Those who remained pledged their loyalty to the Star League's last civil authority, the Ministry of Communication, which would later become Comstar, the sole provider of internet connections between worlds. Thus the Star League lost its last measure of power, and the Great Houses began the First Succession War.

[[Succession Wars|Four Succession Wars]], over the course of two centuries, would follow. Never would a Great House gain enough strength to declare itself master of mankind, especially since none would ever conquer Terra. Technology would [[Imperium of Man|stagnate and regress]], creating the Lostech phenomenon, technology which mankind could no longer reproduce, maintain, or even understand. Where before feudalism had been a political phenomenon, hundreds of worlds across the Inner Sphere regressed to or below the technological level of the 20th Century, and hundreds more in the Periphery failed entirely. The sole bright spot was [[Adeptus Mechanicus|Comstar]], the corporate religious entity which maintained the Hyper Pulse Generator network that enabled FTL communications between inhabited worlds. Comstar became the rulers of Terra in the wake of the Star League's collapse, and leveraged their control of the HPG network to ensure their inviolability in exchange for maintaining the incomprehensible HPG networks and neutral treatment of all communications between worlds. In order to maintain their power, they would actively [[Grimdark|sabotage, headhunt, or kill]] all promising technological advancements and promising scientists to maintain their monopoly and techno-religious authority. To be fair, unlike a certain [[Adeptus Mechanicus|cargo cult]], ComStar intervened because they realized the Great Houses were psychopaths and couldn’t be allowed to advance. Also, they were actually loyal-ish to the Star League and hated the Great Houses.

Eventually the Inner Sphere would stabilize around the Great Houses and their associated stellar empires. However, technological progress remained stagnant, and the rare factories capable of producing such advanced technologies as Battlemechs became critical components in the shattered military-industrial complexes of the so-called Successor States. Millions would die so that an LED monitor factory could be taken by one side, or so that a hundred precision-machined laser lenses could be plundered from a forgotten SLDF armory. Real progress towards recovery could only be made after large caches of information which survived the fall of the Star League were recovered; the most significant were the recovery of a long-lost Star League university's library in 3013, and the recovery and free dissemination of the contents of the Helm Memory Core in 3028. In 3028, the two largest and most powerful Successor States, the Federated Suns and the Lyran Commonwealth, were united by dynastic marriage, and it seemed that a new Golden Age might be only decades away.

But the Inner Sphere had forgotten all about Kerensky's exodus, and nobody wants ''Peace'' to break out in a wargame setting, soooo...

===Suddenly Clannerscum===
Kerensky and his followers first settled on the Pentagon Worlds, where they tried to start a new society and a new Star League. They failed though, and the wars erupted between the worlds, showing the bitter irony of life. Kerensky tried to move on, but suffered a heart attack, and the leadership was overtaken by his son, Nicholas Kerensky (who unlike his father had hair and was probably a closet [[furry]]). Nicholas took the remaining followers with him to a planet he called "Dream Land" and established the twenty original Clans.

The Clans are a tribal society that is divided into five castes - Warriors (religious and political leaders and soldiers), Scientists (less respected but are considered highly important), Merchants (detested and only kept as a necessity), Technicians (engineers and warriors' servants), and Laborers (serfs, repressed as needed). Although during the birth each child is tested for their relevance to a certain caste, but more often than not are the same as their parents. Speaking of which, Clanners strongly believe in eugenics, and most of the Warrior Caste members are genetically enhanced clones/mashups. Other castes are selectively bred by the instructions from Science Caste. On a positive side it would mean that even [[neckbeard|neckbeards]] would end up breeding (though given the Clan's brutal meritocracy/kratocracy, they'd end up as outcasts in the Bandit Caste). On the other hand, the society has only a few acceptable non-technical forms of information, meaning that there really is no reason for there to be neckbeards. Paradoxes aside, Clans were created towards efficiency, and even their language differs from the one used in the Inner Sphere. Clans constantly compete in everything, from combat to technological prowess, as they foresaw their return to the Inner Sphere and its liberation. (By their hands, of course. And logically resulting in their control.)

And that day was not far off. Unfortunately for the Inner Sphere, Comstar never forgot about Kerensky's Exodus and sent exploration vessels out to sniff out their trail and reclaim lost Star League outposts on the side. When the Clans captured one of the expeditions, they believed that the Inner Sphere would invade the Pentagon worlds. Ironically, the Clans used that as an excuse to [[Clan Invasion|return and invade]] before being forced back by the very invasion they were trying to prevent.

A prophecy of days far off, the '''''ilClan''''' is a religious myth that states that someday a Clan will take control of Terra, the Cradle of Humanity. The Khan (leader) of the Clan of Clans which captures Terra will become the new, true ilKhan (Khan of Khans) and re-establish the Star League, over which their blood shall reign in perpetuity. All will be Clan, Clan will be all.

'''''ilClan''''' is also an [[Skub|abortive Battletech rulebook]] that has been in the works since '''2002''', ever since the '''Dark Age''' Era was published. Ostensibly intended to be the next historical Era, featuring all new rules to reflect the dominance of Clan society and technology, the bankruptcies and sales that Battletech went through stalled all development. In addition, most fans are [[Advancing the Storyline|vehemently opposed to the destruction of most of the factions]] in the game, and have spoken up at every opportunity to denounce the plans behind ilClan. A prank release of a provisional ilClan historical outline drew tremendous outcry and Catalyst Game Labs has subsequently decided to focus on rereleasing and updating older Era rulesets.

===Meanwhile, In The Inner Sphere===
...Of course, when the Clans returned to the Inner Sphere with the intent of liberating it from the feuding Great Houses, those same great houses <s>said "okay" and handed over the reins</s> put aside their differences and fought the Clans to a stand-still. This was an incredible show of camaraderie, and the most cooperative the houses had been since the Star League fell. It was all quite touching, really.

Okay, not really. The Clan invasion was getting bogged down and while they were making progress towards Terra it seemed like the new normal would be just constant unending war because they couldn't manage to put any of the successors away for good. ComStar, the self-serving treacherous pricks that they are, decided that something needed to be done and so made the Clans a bet. The deal was, come to Tukayyid and fight our best in one big PROVE YOUR WORTH honorduel smackup. If the Clans won, ComStar would stab all the successors in the back, disconnect their HPG access and throw the doors to Terra wide open. If ComStar won, the Clans would agree to a fifteen year armistice.

The Clans, being honourable glory-seeking meatheads, agreed and converged on Tukayyid, dividing up objectives between Clans thinking that this was the beginning of the glorious endgame. All the while blissfully unaware that ComStar are every bit the cheating bastards you'd expect of an ISP in space with their own army. The Battle of Tukayyid wasn't a complete shutout for the Clans but it definitely illustrated that they still hadn't figured out how to actually win wars. In most of the engagements the Com Guard pounded the Clanners like discount tenderloin and because of their stubborn honourable ways the Clanners were obliged to abide by the cease fire by the logic of no-takey-backsies.

And then once the Clans were wrapped up behind a truce line it was time to get back to good-old inter-house wars. In an ultra-brief summary: There was the FedCom Civil War, kicking off the <s>Fifth Succession War</s> Word of Blake Jihad, the religious fanatic (well, moreso than usual) faction of Comstar went crazy over the entire Inner Sphere with cyborgs and nukes, until some dude named Devlin Stone got everyone to work together and kick them off Terra, then went on to form the Republic of the Sphere, essentially a re-establishment of the Terran Hegemony. In the meantime, the Clans got a bug up their asses over ideological purity after their Scientist Castes tried to take over, and all the Clans who invaded the Inner Sphere got kicked out of Clan Space to live there instead. Eventually someone forgot to pay the phone bill and the interstellar faster-than-light communication network went down. This ushered in the last era in the fluff known as the "Dark Age."

This is also considered the second ruination of the franchise by some. Many long-time fans think highly of the Succession Wars era of Battletech, right after the fall of the Star League. Marching around the field with walking tanks so expensive and rare that it's better to lose a pilot than a weapon is a powerful fantasy. It's often described as being "Mad Max with mechs." Of course, the blasted hellscape of the post-apocalypse is hard to maintain when the Clans invaded with their own brand-new shiny toys. The shift from "squabbling tribes with rusty guns" to "courageous defenders with shiny factories" is often considered the first ruination of the property ''(while a vocal minority, ie the clannerscum, hold it up as the only reason they got into it)''. When the squabbling of the Inner Sphere was broken up again by quasi-religious zealots and Battletech was forced to stitch in apocrypha from its bastard child, the miniature game MechWarrior: Dark Age, people considered it the second collapse of the franchise.

===ilClan Era <strike>Dawn of a New Age, or Not</strike>===
In 2019 Catalyst released '''Shattered Fortress''', the first half of a two-sourcebook set intended to finally advance the franchise into a post-Dark Age era. It ended with a cliffhanger: on New Year's Day 3150 a Clan fleet lands on Terra, but we don't know which Clan. Continuing the recurring theme of Battletech players not caring one bit about advancing the storyline, the release of the second book was then delayed indefinitely by the massive success of a Kickstarter offering more new miniatures and rules set 100 years back on the timeline. While each republished or recompiled rulebook has prologues hinting that the ilClan and Third Star League are around in 3250 from framing documents as archival material, details were deliberately [[Skub|left vague]]. Come 2021, and the novels have finally pushed the timeline out of the Dark Age, reception has been... [[Derp|eh]]. While some factions and characters got a lot of development and [[Awesome|heroic action]], many others were [[Rage|given the shaft]] or reduced to 2D [[FAIL|caricactures when they had potential for development]].

On January 1st, 2021 the novel ''Hour of the Wolf'' was released. Long story short, the Wolf Khan managed to get his hands on a way to bypass the Fortress Walls (unknown to most, Devlin Stone snuck them the access codes as he believed they were the least terrible of bad outcomes). Clans Wolf and Jade Falcon then beat the shit out of the Republic of the Sphere (but not before having the bulk of their commanders assassinated by headhunter units), fought a Trial of Possession for Terra, and the Wolves won. So, Clan Wolf is now ilClan. Their Khan made the Jade Falcons his clan's bodyguard (the bad elements having died fighting), and reconstituted Clan Smoke Jaguar as a non-voting clan and to serve as his clan's black ops/special forces. These Clans then created a new Star League (to a point). And with the combined might of these admittedly terribly mangled clans now strengthened by working together, they might actually make something of themselves. Others in the setting might not recognize them yet, but with the industrial might of the region(s) of space they occupy, they'll probably end up smashing faces and making it clear whose boss. Or they'll get booted off or everyone will just wait for them to self-destruct and then just walk right in.

==Factions Summary==
While each faction has a certain flavor and preferred equipment/tactics, factions do not limit your gameplay choices to particular sets of mechs/units/components, as in many other games ([[Warhammer 40,000]] is a good example, amongst many other skirmish-level wargames). So if something you want to use is in specific era of Battletech History (FEDCOM Civil War, Clan Invasion, et cetera), anything goes. Although it's common for players to roleplay as being employed by some major power, and limiting themselves to their styles. Either that or they play as mercenaries and do as they please. Seriously, the amount of in-fighting is in effect galactic level (in Warhammer 40k -- aside from humanity itself -- only the ''Necrontyr'', the flesh incarnations of the [[Necrons]], ever fought each other to such a long and drawn out extent).

===The Inner Sphere===
While other time periods might have better or more interesting rules, the most popular ruleset remains the eras between the Fourth Succession War (3028) to just before the Word of Blake Jihad (3067). This list of Inner Sphere factions covers those periods.

====[[Federated Suns]]====
Ruled by House Davion, the Federated Suns is feudal Space America or nepotistic Space UK. [[Lawful Good]], ruled by a Great House as inbred as any other is, and with all positions of power occupied by the same set of mostly blood-related elites. Without the blue blood, you're just a clever commoner. However, the Federated Suns isn't as stratified as the other Successor States, and it's easier for a common citizen to climb the ladders of wealth and power, which fuels an entrepreneurial society that is among the wealthiest in the Inner Sphere. They’re heroic defenders of freedom and democracy, provided you define “freedom and democracy” as “being ruled by the Federated Suns”. Their colors are red, white, and blue. Something about that sounds strangely familiar...

Similar to [[Ultramarines|a certain faction in a certain other wargame]], the Federated Suns usually win most of their battles, and are usually presented as the good guys, drawing a lot of accusations of Mary Suehood. Unfairly, though, as the FedSuns win so much due to wealth-fueled research and production. In other words, they work hard, do a good job, encourage businesses, and they get rewarded with victory. Unlike the Smurfs, however, the Federated Suns has actual flaws - their “democracy” is a rubber stamp, their rhetoric about freedom is mostly just an excuse to justify warmongering and imperialism, and they have such a staggering degree of wealth inequality that there are cases where the populations of multiple planets only have a single school to go between them. This means that the FedSuns attract two kinds of fans: twelve-year-olds who buy all the propaganda, and people who can appreciate playing a bunch of self-righteous, hypocritical jackasses. On the bright side, they do live up to the hype when it comes to individual liberties, and their rulers are genuinely competent and mostly don't dick them over.

Thanks to their great wealth, the Federated Suns can afford to fund actual scientific research in the form of the New Avalon Institute of Science, or Space MIT, and the Davions supported most of the tech development and recovery in the Inner Sphere prior to the Clan Invasion. They also got lucky when they found an ancient Star League library filled with various editions of tabletop wargame splatbooks. They are known to be the house that first heavily employed or utilized a lot of Clan personnel and technologies after the conclusion of the invasion.

The Federated Suns also kind of have a thing for autocannons. Think [[Space Wolves]] with wolves, or [[Orks]] with [[Dakka]], and you have an idea. If it does not have an autocannon on it the Suns will find a way to give it one, and if it does have an autocannon they find a way to upgrade it to a rotary autocannon. So if you like autocannons (and you should) this is the faction for you.

Prior to the Fourth Succession War, the Federated Suns and Lyran Commonwealth were united through marriage (technically the political union was a treaty and the marriage was out of love and had no impact on the nations' unification), forming the Federated Commonwealth, the largest and most powerful empire in the galaxy since the Star League. In order to bridge the distance between the two nations, however, the Federated Commonwealth had to conquer large swathes of the Capellan Confederation, which they did easily. However, only a few decades later the Commonwealth was broken up by the FedCom Civil War, when Katherine Steiner-Davion schemed to either take over the Commonwealth or secede the Lyran half of it because she was a royal bitch. She is commonly known as simply The Bitch by many fans. And her splitting of the FedCom is incredibly weird since her nobles were against her, her military mostly liked the advantages brought by the FedSuns, and her public liked the massive boosts in economy and technological progress. Oh, and she was rebel usurper and had no authority to do any of the things she did. So her successful secession doesn't make a lick of sense and you just kinda have to suck it up. And to top it off, she had her mother murdered out of greed. The FedSuns are currently getting kicked around by pretty much everybody during the Dark Age, primarily because the current head of the house, Caleb, is extremely paranoid and rather psychotic.Thankfully he got killed by the Kuritans with some insider help from Clan Snow Raven (in exchange for some buffer territory). Not so thankfully, his death also brought the destruction a major chunk of the Davions' regular armed forces concentrated on one planet while enabling the Kuritans to take over the capital. Kuritans being what they're like, they probably raped and tortured everyone they didn't murder and alongside their dogs. <strike>''Save us, Julian!''</strike>

====[[Lyran Commonwealth]]====
[[File:Steiner Assault.jpg|350px|right|thumb|A typical scene of a Lyran Archon wondering why their cousin has failed to relieve the Commonwealth alongside a bloody frontline against their enemies. They're likely either at a ball dance or planning a coup.]]
Space Germany with some Space Scotland and Space Scandinavia kicking around, the Lyran Commonwealth is the largest successor state and owns the most resource-rich planets in the Inner Sphere, making them an industrial and economic powerhouse. Their government was supposed to be modeled on ancient Athens, led by a council of nine Archons, but this did not work out ''at all'', and eventually Archon Robert Marsden decided he'd had enough of this shit and overthrew the other Archons in a military coup. The Marsdens were eventually replaced by the Steiners via marriage, who have ruled the Commonwealth to this day.

The Lyrans are rich. Really, really absurdly rich. The only reason they haven't conquered the Inner Sphere yet is that they prefer to put the relatives of rich businessmen in charge of their army rather than, y'know, actual soldiers, meaning basically every Lyran military officer is terrible at their job. There is at least one recorded case of the Lyran military starting a major interstellar war ''by accident''. Fortunately, since they're so rich, they're able to make up for their ludicrous incompetence with the biggest and heaviest weapons in the Inner Sphere. The joke goes that a typical Steiner scout lance consists of four 100-ton '''''Atlas''''' mechs (imagine a scout-recon team composed entirely of [[Warlord Battle Titan|Warlord Titans]] and you'll get the idea). Steiner forces tend to be big and slow, barely able to outmaneuver enemy fortresses. Of course, once they (eventually) get into range, you can kiss that fortress goodbye.

Late in the Third Succession War, Archon Katrina Steiner shocked the entire Inner Sphere by actually calling for a peace treaty. Only Hanse Davion was at all interested, and he wound up marrying Katrina's daughter Melissa and uniting the two countries into one massive empire, the Federated Commonwealth (see above). Predictably, this Beauty-and-the-Geek romance started out exceedingly awesome then epically failed and it's back to single life for the too-pretty Steiners. They recently tried to have Clan Wolf migrate through their coreward territory to keep the Free Worlds League from reforming during the Dark Age while holding the transported civilian castes as insurance. The plan backfired with the Free Worlds League still reforming and Clan Wolf taking much of the coreward and middle territory in the Lyran Commonwealth to form the Wolf Empire. This, on top of a massive amount of civil unrest means the Lyrans are too busy with damage control from Wolf and Jade Falcon invasions along with internal rebellions to be a threat to anyone. The moral of the story is: don’t try to manipulate badasses who nearly conquered everyone without trying. They will fuck you up for it. Also, trying to hold civilians hostage against a culture that thinks civilians are barely human at all is pointless. It tends to go like "Okay, I'll kill a bunch of your people and conquer chunks of your territory". You threaten to kill the civilians and your enemy is totally incapable of understanding why they should care when they treat them as replaceable subjects instead of irreplaceable citizens. Come the rise of the IlClan on Terra and there’s a sudden power vacuum where the Jade Falcon occupation zone to the North use to be. This led to a massive Balkan-style disintegration of the said region alongside the Lyran’s northern provinces; many of resulting statelets are very ticked off at the Steiners for leaving them to rot. While Jade Falcons are barely around in the region, holdout territories and other Clans like the Hell’s Horses and Ghost Bears are eyeing the new buffer zone cautiously before seeking new planets to annex.

====[[Free Worlds League]]====
Taking elements from America, Yugoslavia, and Austria-Hungary, the Free Worlds League is a federal democratic republic. No, really! They have a parliament and everything. Of course, the commander-in-chief of the Free Worlds League Military is always a member of House Marik because parliament doesn’t think anyone else can do the job, and the entire country has been operating under martial law “for the duration of the emergency” since the Star League broke up. But in principle, both democracy and federalism are alive and well in Marik space, making it impossible to get anything done. Think of the Free Worlds League as Space Holy Roman Empire due to regionalist nationalism.

Everyone in the Free Worlds League hates everyone else in the Free Worlds League; the only thing keeping them together is mutual animosity to the Lyrans, Capellans, and Periphery bandits raiding their borders. After finding out that Captain-General Thomas Marik had been in hiding running the Word of Blake for decades and the guy they’d been taking their orders from all that time was actually just some hobo picked up off the street, they gave up on trying to make the thing work at all and collapsed. Which is a shame because fake Marik was actually one of the best Captain-Generals they ever had. After the Dark Age, said hobo’s daughter managed to put it back together again, which kind of makes you start to wonder about that whole “only the Mariks can handle the Captaincy-General” thing. Doesn't help that she had to make a deal with the Spirit Cat and Sea Fox clanners to cement the whole thing together as well as marrying the official Marik family's head.

The Free Worlds League Military is built around combined arms warfare, treating infantry, vehicles, and aerospace fighters as if they were just as useful as mechs. They also used to have the most LAMs back before [[squat|LAMs ceased to be a thing]]. They don’t get a lot of attention, since they’re far away from the FedSuns and the Clans and therefore don’t get involved in stories about factions the writers actually care about. The constant in-fighting probably doesn't help. That said, they most likely do enough to keep their jobs, which is probably good enough to satisfy the average Joe, who couldn't care less about political squabbles. Recent lore hints they’re probably at the forefront of the IlClan’s attention now due to Leaguers eager to reconquer their lost territory. Whether they get out of the border war in one piece is up for debate.

====[[Draconis Combine]]====
Ruled by House Kurita, the Draconis Combine is the obligatory Space Japan, in the sense that it is ''obligatory'' to be Japanese. It has large Arab and Scandinavian minorities who are legally required to be [[weeaboo]]s, with the country as a whole drawing on both the age of samurai and the militaristic Imperial Japan of the 1920s to 40s. The twelve-year-olds listed above, if they leave the FedSuns, will likely move to this weeaboo paradise with its delusional "fierce solo samurai warrior takes on all opponents Kurosawa Style" appeal, not realizing that lone mechs get [[rape|gang-banged]] by enemies who are teamed up like a pack of mechanical hyenas. Defended by weeaboos despite being responsible for the single most horrific massacre in human history during the First Succession War. For an alternate look into this supposed massacre, please read ''Did 52 million really die?'' In fact, they have a habit of doing this. “We defeated the mercenaries on this planet who have nothing to do with the general populace. Nuke everyone before we leave. Why? Uhhhh...do we really need a reason? <s>they’re not our enemies or anything, but [[Lulz|murder is fun]]</s> SCORCHED EARTH TACTICS! Preventing enemies from using the planet’s populace or resources against us is a valid strategy!”

Like everyone else in the Inner Sphere, the Draconis Combine is a warmongering, autocratic empire ruled with an iron fist that wants to take over the galaxy. Unlike everyone else in the Inner Sphere, they actually admit it. They're the only successor state that makes absolutely no pretenses of being a democracy, with the Coordinator of Worlds being treated as a divinely anointed absolute monarch who is the sole legitimate ruler of all humanity. They were the first to start shit after the Star League collapsed, with the Coordinator declaring himself the new First Lord and launching an invasion of the Federated Suns that eventually wound up getting him killed on Kentares IV, prompting his son to launch the aforementioned massacre. They've been the mortal enemies of the Federated Suns ever since.

Similar to the Davions and their love of autocannons and the Steiners and their love of everything heavy and assault, Kuritans are really, really into PPCs (Particle Projector Cannons), mainly because they're dirt poor and [[Lasgun]]s are cheaper than bullets. If there is a mech that can possibly mount a PPC, the Dracs will put one on it. For instance, see the ''Catapult'': a 65-ton long-range fire support mech intended for indirect fire using the Long Range Missle (LRM) racks in its "ears". Almost every variant of the ''Catapult'' is centered around these LRM racks with a few minor backup weapons. They are a reliable, battle-tested design that no commander in their right mind would attempt to 'fix', because isn't broken... except in the eyes of House Kurita. Once the Combine got their hands on it those ears were replaced with two PPCs for direct fire support and two machine guns for <s>civilian massacres</s> INFANTRY DETERRENTS.

Kuritans were also [[Fail|involved in the worst Battletech novel ever written]], wherein a ship of theirs was lost in time and space, and [[what|found giant]], [[Kroot|alien, sentient chickens]]. Far Country is a [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6zQ6ZqEqg0 Shamefur Dispray]! and pretty much serves as the only time aliens are actually mentioned in the BattleTech universe.

====[[Capellan Confederation]]====
Culturally, Space China and Space Russia. Politically, Space North Korea. The Confederation was originally founded when several minor states in the Capellan Zone who were sick of the Federated Suns trying to "liberate" them joined together, [[lolwut|bombed their own capital of Capella to make a point]], and fought the Davions off. Secure in this victory, they then proceeded to never win a war ever again. Sounds like their rulers were evil after all.

Citizens of the Capellan Confederation enjoy probably the highest standard of living of any commoner in the Inner Sphere, with an extensive, cradle-to-grave welfare system and the best education and health care the state can provide. [[Grimdark|*Non*-citizens of the Capellan Confederation, known as "Servitors", are basically slaves.]] Becoming a citizen requires you to provide a certain amount of service to the state by the age of seventeen, and citizenship can be removed as punishment for disloyalty. Even those who aren't unfortunate enough to be Servitors basically have their lives decided for them by the Capellan caste system and the government's ability to tell them that they have to move to a new planet and take up a new career at any given moment. The writers might have eventually gotten the note on how pointless this was because under chancellor Sun-Tzu (No, really) Liao in 3052 the servitors were awarded more rights, their quasi slavery condition abolished and they were given better chances at gaining citizenship, boosting Sun-Tzu's popularity in the process. Just as planned.

The Confederation is run by a Chancellor, who's supposed to be elected by the nobility but in reality is pretty much always the head of House Liao. This is rather unfortunate, since the Liaos have a noticeable tendency towards being batshit fucking insane ''even by Inner Sphere nobility standards''. They claim descent from Elias Liao, who was either a persecuted revolutionary philosopher (if you ask a Capellan) or a psychopathic nuclear terrorist (if you ask anyone else). The main family line births a homicidal maniac at least every other generation, e.g. Kali Liao, who became the leader of a cyborg death cult with a taste for mass nerve-gas attacks. At one point, they decided that having a regular military just wasn't cool enough for them and created the Warrior Houses, a bunch of weird pseudo-religious warrior cults that only answer to the Chancellor.

Since the Capellans have lost basically every war they've ever fought and live right next to the Federated Suns, they've become the designated "sneaky" faction, focusing on guerrilla warfare and covert operations. They go for stealth and electronic warfare the way the Davions go for autocannons, best exemplified by their iconic Raven electronic warfare 'Mech (which, depending on the model, actually looks like a bird; weird but cool). After the Clan Invasion and FedCom Civil War, they acquired a taste for the newly-developed Plasma weapons. Got the absolute shit beat out of them by the Federated Commonwealth during the Fourth Succession War, got revenge when the Commonwealth tore itself apart a few decades later.

====[[ComStar]]====
Imagine a cross between the medieval Catholic Church and Comcast, and you have ComStar. During the Star League Civil War, the network of Hyperpulse Generators that the Star League had built for faster-than-light communications was in ruins, and the one thing that the Great Houses could agree on was that ''somebody'' had to fix all their space phones right fucking now. They named Jerome Blake, the highest-ranking HPG network official still alive, as Minister of Communications, which, since they didn't name any other ministers, basically put him in charge of Terra. As the Star League collapsed, Blake bummed some soldiers off of Kerensky, got the Successor States to agree that the space phones were important and they should therefore respect ComStar's neutrality, and then seized complete control of Terra in a lightning-fast coup, revealing that that neutrality had some teeth.

After Blake died, ComStar quickly turned into a quasi-mystical and religious organization, whose stated purpose was to preserve human knowledge in the dark ages of the Succession Wars, a goal they attempted to fulfill by assassinating every scientist who wouldn't work for them and starting the Second Succession War practically the moment the first one ended. Things started to spiral out of control for them after the Helm Memory Core was leaked and suddenly everyone was able to figure out how Lostech worked again, and then things got even ''worse'' when the Clans showed up.

ComStar is also famous for introducing the ComStar Bill (C-bill) as a standard galactic currency. Rather than being backed by material goods, each C-bill is backed by ComStar's faster than light message delivery service: One C-bill will guarantee one millisecond of data transmission, enough for a few pages of bare text or a small image, with larger transmissions costing more, and with additional fees for higher priority and the like. The value of the various Great House currencies can be weighed against their worth in C-bills which allows for currency exchange on a galactic scale. The C-bill is the primary way that mercenaries are paid and in turn pay for goods and services, and thus the most common currency encountered by players. Post Jihad, Comstar was neutered of its armed forces and subject to a hostile takeover by Clan Sea Fox (outside of the universe, at least one of the game developers had a hate boner against Comstar's OP status and gave their more powerful components the ax, courtesy of Blakist nukes).

====Minor Powers====
*'''[[Free Rasalhague Republic]]''': Space Norse/Vikings. They were a part of the Draconis Combine along the Lyran border, until the formation of the Federated Commonwealth meant that Kurita was about to have ''two'' borders for Hanse Davion to attack them from, so he granted them their independence as a buffer state. May have been awesome. If you're wondering why we write of them in the past tense refer to: ''Clan Invasion, Why Not Get in the Way of One'' (Third Publishing of Liao, COMSTAR ISBN 474-Alpha-467-Upsilon-345). They later join up with the Ghost Bears and become the Rasalhague Dominion. They are awesome because now we have Viking clanners. One of their aerospace pilots literally stopped the Clan invasion dead for an entire year because she banzai'd her fighter into a Clan warship and killed the ilKhan.
*'''[[Word of Blake]]''': An ultra-reactionary splinter faction of ComStar that got butthurt after ComStar ditched all the pseudo-religious bullshit. Broke away and launched an all-out jihad(''yes, they actually used that word'') on literally everyone shortly after the Federated Commonwealth Civil War came to an end. Made liberal use of weapons of mass destruction and rendered several entire planets uninhabitable. Fond of genocide, re-education camps, unstable technology, and mass murder. As a result, they were eventually crushed as a result of pissing off the entire fucking universe, but not before undoing a lot of the technological progress that had been made after the Clan Invasion (apparently by magic, as not only was that knowledge now universally available, but so were copies of the Helm Memory Core...and destroying some factories doesn’t make technology go away). Basically used by the publishers to reset the average technology level of the game due to a lot of players feeling it was advancing too far and getting away from the quasi-feudal feel of earlier editions (forgetting that quasi-feudalism is a governing method, the technology level has nothing to do with it). Ironically enough, their mechs were more streamlined and featured a lot more experimental technologies for people who would eventually blow the entire game setting back to the quasi-iron age. Officially, they were all supposedly killed after the Jihad for genocide. Recently hinted by a terminally ill Stone to still be around and responsible for the HPG network being taken out as a taunt against ilKhan Alaric before being killed off in bed.
*'''The [[Republic of the Sphere]]''': Established by an individual calling himself Devlin Stone, who mysteriously surfaced at some point during the Blakefag Jihad, and helped pull the galaxy out that colossal clusterfuck through a series of successful military campaigns. Upon the Jihad's defeat, Stone met with ComStar Precentor Martial Victor Ian Steiner-Davion and laid out a philosophy which Victor would privately describe as ''militant socialism keyed to altruism''; Officials and authorities would have their assets placed in a blind trust. Public service would be rewarded. Greed and corruption would be punished. All weapons would be placed under government control. [[Just As Planned|Surprisingly, it worked]], at least for a time, ushering in a new era of peace for the core worlds. However, after ruling as Exarch of the Republic for a while, Devlin Stone stepped down and shortly there after disappeared, vowing to [[Sigmar|return when he was needed most]]. It didn't take long before everything went to shit again and was plunged into chaos when the interstellar communication network was sabotaged. Was gangbanged by a combination of separatist factions, the Capellans, and Clan Jade Falcon before finally saying FUCK IT and retreating back to Terra. All while somehow using Word of Blake HPG disruption tech to prevent hyperspace jumps into their core territory. They also recently developed a taste for Tripod Mechs (which are the only modern Mech that can exceed Assault Mechs in terms of tonnage, firepower, and armor but at the cost of requiring an additional gunner and engineer onboard to shoot and monitor the machine's vitals) while also hybridizing Clan & IS technology (culminating with extremely powerful but unstable weapons). <strike>''You guys realize Stone is the [[Emperor]], right? Right?''</strike> None of this makes sense, of course, as the HPG network is not only extremely well and fanatically protected by actual fanatics, but also is so large it can’t really be sabotaged. Except by magically competent Deus ex Machina mooks, apparently. Friendly clans could also build their own for the Republic’s use. Except newly built HPGs also failed somehow. Black Boxes became advanced enough that HPGs were nearly pointless, though, making the whole “Dark Age” thing really...dumb. And if someone had the sense to build building-sized Black Boxes instead of briefcase-sized, the HPGs would have a perfect backup. But common sense in Battletech is [[heresy]] just like in any good universe. Besides that, the eyes on anyone with power to prevent corruption would stop factions from selling out the Republic and the senators would not have been able to sponsor military officers into becoming Paladins because that is extremely corrupt and would not have been allowed or tolerated. Even if such a plot succeeded, there would be no leverage for the senators to get those paladins to do what they wanted. And the Capellans are target practice, sudden separatism makes no sense when they were fine until this point under numerous oppressive regimes, and Clan Jade Falcon by itself would have been crushed and a team up of clans would have sent the whole Inner Sphere into a clan-killing frenzy panic mode. Come the latest novels in 2021, and the Republic and it's founder were reduced to a caricature of fall of the III Reich (complete with a senile leader giving contradictory orders and throwing their best units at the worst faction so the best faction can pick up the pieces). While many of their leaders and fighters survived, it's an open question of whether they cooperate with the ilClan or revolt later down the line.
** '''Northwind Highlanders''': A band of Scottish mercenaries hailing from the planet Northwind. Once upon a time they were a formal Royal Guard unit for House Cameron in the SLDF but they went free agent when the Star League fell apart, after which they mostly worked for House Liao. They got a surprise happy blakesday party that destroyed their HPG and wiped out their aerofighters but otherwise they survived and joined the Republic in 3081. With the Fall of the Republic, they were forced to surrender with their leader loaned as a liaison from the IlClan to the Jade Falcons; which is notable due to both factions historically and currently originating from, the Black Watch, elite SLDF units working as bodyguards for the First Lord of the Star League and nearly prevented the [[Amaris Civil War]].
* '''[[The Periphery]]''': The collection of non-successor states on the edges of the Inner Sphere. They were brought into the Star League by force and are still kinda sore about it, mostly because they nearly got blasted back to the Stone Age and never quite got their technology back up. The most important entities (outside of the Clans) are the Periphery powers bordering the Great Houses in the Inner Sphere while the rest is marked as the Deep Periphery and is as isolated from civilization as the Arctic Circle from the rest of civilization.
**'''[[Taurian Concordate]]''': A Periphery nation bordering the Federated Suns and Cappellan Confederation. Has an axe to grind against the Federated Suns and claims they’re much more dedicated to freedom and liberty than the Davions. Think the United States right after 9/11, all of the good and the bad, and you have a good idea of the culture. Just replace paranoia about Islam with paranoid about the Federated Suns, including the fact that the overwhelming majority of who they're paranoid couldn't given any less of a shit about them.
**'''Marian Hegemony''': A bandit kingdom bordering the Lyrans and Free Worlds League that decided to become the Roman Empire IN SPACE. A shadier version of the [[Severan Dominate]] from 40k.
**'''[[Magistracy of Canopus]]''': A hedonistic matriarchy bordering the Free Worlds League. A nation of cybernetic catgirls, whose largest export is pornography. No, really. We're serious. Well they're not all cybernetic catgirls but they're there if you want them, and pornography and the tourist industry makes up a large chunk of their economy. Also Medical research and technology, most likely to treat all the STDs you get from your vacation to Space Vegas. Also known for having a significant religious conservatives population as they have an open-door refugee policy.
**'''[[Outworlds Alliance]]''': A backwater state near the Federated Suns and Draconis Combine. Was the Periphery-est of the Periphery states until Clan Snow Raven moved in and formed the '''Raven Alliance'''.
**'''Hanseatic League''': A mercantile alliance of traders descended from Lyran refugees fleeing economic declines during the Third Succession War, their nation is between the Clan Homeworlds and Lyran Space. They liked to pretend to be a neutral third party interested in trade of goods and information while also subjecting neighboring planets to debt trap diplomacy with armed merchant caravans. Also liked to play both sides against each other in any prolonged war among their neighbors to increase profits and soften them up for potential annexation (such as between Nueva Castille and the Umayyad Caliphate). Unfortunately, they were eventually conquered by Clan Goliath Scorpion (with help from their newfound Castilian and Umayyad citizens) and merged into their new Scorpion Empire some time in the Dark Age.
*'''Mercenary Review and Bonding Commission''': An independent group that certifies and provides force rankings for various [[Mercenaries (Battletech)|mercenary groups]]. At least three Mech Warrior games are focused on the mercs as it allows writers more leeway and less chance to screw up the canon.
**'''Kell Hounds''': A merc company headed by Morgan Kell. His son Phelan was captured by Clan Wolf when the Clan Invasion first began, and by the end was running the Clan until it split. Took in Phelan and the Exiled Wolves afterwards. Generally, are tough but cool guys all around. Like the Exiled Wolves, they got a massive "kill on sight" target painted on their back after the omnicidal Jade Falcon Khan got annoyed with their feisty resistance against her campaign into Lyran Territory. Once the Jade Falcons scrambled the bulk of their military forces to Terra, the Kell Hounds were able to retake their homeworld when the Jade Falcon occupation zone and Lyran northernmost territories balkanized from the power vacuum. On the other hand, their commander has a big grudge against the Steiners for leaving them out to dry.
**'''Grey Death Legion''': Mercenary group who were famous for finding and distributing the Helm Core, which allowed the Inner Sphere to regain technology formerly lost during the Succession Wars. Generally an author's favorite in the books. Got destroyed during the Blake Jihad. And then got resurrected once the northern Lyran provinces balkanized.
**'''Wolf's Dragoons''': A bunch of Clan Wolf advance scouts disguised as a mercenary group. Came to the Inner Sphere with a ton of mechs that the Clans considered outdated but hadn't been seen in the Successor States in centuries and were considered Lostech... Which should have tipped the Great Houses off that these guys might be bad juju. Instead of providing intel to the Clans for their invasion, Wolf's Dragoons pulled a fast one and tried to prepare the Inner Sphere for war with the Clans. They are generally pretty awesome guys, even if part of that awesomeness is because they get a ton of attention in the fluff due to the writers' obsession with anything related to Clan Wolf. They got screwed pretty badly during the Blake Jihad when the nutjobs assaulted Outreach. By Dark Age they are slowly recovering with help from the Kell Hounds. Recent novellas have the Wolves convince them to join them on Terra once it's conquered to prevent the genocidal Jade Falcons from becoming the IlClan. Unfortunately, latest novels also made them become meatshields used by the Wolf Khan to expend the Turquoise Turkeys' ammo supplies while being reduced to a fraction of their strength. Naturally, in a repeat of their history against Kurita, they [[Book of Grudges|swore]] an oath to stand against the Wolves permanently.

===[[The Clans]]===
Laughable strategic and logistical ability and basically have no plan when they do something. But God have mercy on you if they're coming your way. 'Cus you're '''''fucked'''''. These guys reside in the [[Deep Periphery]] and tried to leave well enough alone with the Spheroid barbarians their SLDF ancestors disowned until Space AT&T knocked on their front door like an unsolicited salesman. The resulting "GTFO my lawn" response naturally made the Innner Sphere soil their pants. Each clan is named after an animal, and yes those are the animal's full names.

* Clan Blood Spirit: The smallest clan. Noted for having the toughest training, favored Battle Armor, and had no official allies after starting off idealistic but then becoming jaded grudge-holders. :( Despite above comment, not ACTUALLY an animal, but named for the warrior spirit that united the forces under Kerensky.
* Clan Burrock: The only clan to support the Dark Caste. Liked picking on the Blood Spirits before they were absorbed by Clan Star Adder.
* Clan Cloud Cobra: The Religious types. Loved aerospace fighters and jump jets. Obsessed with collecting genetic bloodlines other clans don't want.
* Clan Coyote: Native Americans in Space. Also like to scheme too much for their own good. Known for creating a shit ton of tech (unlike [[Adeptus Mechanicus|some people]] on Mars...)
* Clan Diamond Shark: Used to be called Sea Fox until Snow Raven killed their namesake (with their current one) the only clan that views the merchant caste as equal to their warrior one. Later brought back the Sea Fox and changed their name back. The only clan to allow all castes to vote, making them arguably a genuinely democratic republic.
* Clan Fire Mandrill: The clan whose gimmick was to always have a few subfactions to foster internal competition. At first it was manageable and it improved the clan, but then the factionalism snowballed into more than 10 mini-subfactions which made the whole clan a laughing stock among the clans.
* Clan Ghost Bear: The only clan to be founded by a married couple, as a result they're the only clan to still have normal family units. Much more protective of its civilian caste than the others. Nearly devoured the Free Rashalague Republic in the Clan Invasion, then merged with what was left after the Jihad. Went full blown good old fashion Viking Berserker when the Jihad nuked their civilians, attacking friend and foe alike in pure grief fueled murderous rage. Awesome.
* Clan Goliath Scorpion: Stoners with rose-colored nostalgia glasses. Also noted for elite marksmanship and ambush tactics. Likes to [[Blood Ravens|acquire artifacts]] [[Trazyn the Infinite|for cultural appreciation of the Star League]], sometimes with bad consequences down the line.
* Clan Hell's Horses: The only clan to think tanks are useful, often uses combined arms tactics rather than just spamming mechs. They have a hot rod flames color scheme. Extremely heavily focused on teamwork. Including teamwork between castes and between the clan and its conquered worlds. Which has led to very good relations both internally and externally. Probably the only Clan other than the Star Adders that locals might actually support over a "liberating" Inner Sphere force. ''Maybe''.
* Clan <strike>Temper Tantrum</strike> Ice Hellion: Speed freaks with a big ego. Their Khan seems to bitch every time their forces lose, which is often.
* Clan Jade Falcon: The spotlight stealing clan second only to the Wolves, with whom they have a fierce rivalry. Slightly less evil than the Jaguars.
* Clan Mongoose: Basically a footnote in clan history. Extremely aggressive, tend to attack everyone near them. [[Fail|Got their asses kicked by everyone else before being absorbed.]]
* Clan Nova Cat: The spiritual types, they decide their policy with visions, which 9 times out of 10 ends badly for them. Some of the best marksmen in the clans, often competed with Clan Goliath Scorpion. Joined Smoke Jaguar in attacking the Draconis Combine, then sided with the Combine right after everyone decided the Jags had to go. Eventually got destroyed during the Dark Ages for backing the wrong Kuritan royal in a civil war.
* Clan <strike>Chimney Kitten</strike> Smoke Jaguar: Essentially super aggressive [[World Eaters]] trained to pilot mechs. Known to fuck shit up until their smaller numbers (due to infighting, shitting on their civilian castes and hating logistics) fucked them over in long campaign. Were eventually wiped out by the Inner Sphere counter-attack after they murdered an entire city from orbit. What goes around comes around. Recent ilClan lore had their descendants in the Fidelis sworn to the Wolf Khan in exchange for rebuilding their clan; [[What|despite]] their original [[Book of Grudges|hatred]] for letting the Second Star League annihilate them.
* Clan Snow Raven: The sinister & cunning space jockeys of the clans. Specialized in space combat and became BBFs with the Outworlds Alliance.
* Clan Spirit Cats: Offshoots of the Nova Cats after they were annihilated by the Combine.
* Clan Star Adder: Boring, but very, very practical, which benefited them a lot. They favor using assault mechs, and like to upgrade their lasers to heavy lasers. Living under them or as one of them is much more like real life. If you can do a job, you can have the job. Including a laborer wanting to be a warrior. Which ironically is the same approach that caused Clan Wolverine to be destroyed by Kerensky.
* Clan Steel Viper: Self righteous xenophobes who wanted to cooperate with the Inner Sphere but also treated freeborns like dirt, and then wondered why nobody liked them. Responsible for Clan genocide known as "The Wars of Reaving". [[Fail|Got genocided in return.]]
* Clan Widowmaker: The hyper-aggressive types. Their first Khan held a grudge against the Wolverines and framed them before being killed with support from Nicholas. Widowmaker later got annihilated for accidentally killing Nicky. What was left of it, however, <strike>gave birth</strike> (lies Clanners aren't born, they're grown) to the most dangerous MechWarrior ever, Natasha Kerensky.
* Clan Wolf: The spotlight stealing Clan, courtesy of it being Kerensky's personal clan. Split up into two factions following the Refusal War.
** Crusader Wolves: The guys who want to continue the invasion of Inner Sphere. Wound up migrating from their original invasion corridor to Lyran/Marik space & formed a new & dangerous upstart state called the '''Wolf Empire.''' Later <strike>[[Mary Sue|surprise surprise]]</strike>, won against the Republic and Jade Falcons on Terra to become the ilClan of the Third Star League [[FAIL|despite the other factions refusing to recognize them for now]] outside of the former Republic’s officials, Jade Falcons, & the Smoke Jaguars that are all a shadow of their strength. Naturally lost most of their forces to take the top prize.
** Warden Wolf-in-Exile: The guys who want to defend Inner Sphere against the rest of the clans, who they think are a mockery of Kerensky's teachings. Like the Kell Hounds, they got a massive "kill on sight" target painted on their back after the omnicidal Jade Falcon Khan got annoyed with their feisty resistance against her campaign into Lyran Territory. Somehow got convinced to rejoin the Crusaders Wolves in revenge against the Jade Falcons despite the story never addressing the Crusader-Warden divide on treating Inner Sphere nations as subjects to be conquered and ruled from above or charges to be protected and educated from partnership. The “official” motive of seeking payback against the Jade Falcons for razing their civilian population centers and killing their cadet academies can only go so far until the Green Chickens got defeated.
* <strike>[[Clan Wolverine]]</strike> Not-Named Clan: Aggressive and independent minded, these guys pissed off Nicky to such extent that they were annihilated after the vengeful Widowmaker Khan framed them of detonating nukes on civilians and another Clan’s genetic repository after the Wolverines seceded from the Clans. Basically, they did the caste thing but thought "Hey, why not let people do what they're best at?" and that sort of thing. It pissed off crazy pants ilKhan Kerensky because this approach made them more successful than all the other clans, proving his method was actually not the best way. Some survivors were able to flee as the '''Minnesota Tribe''' but they've been never heard from publicly since (though there are hints that they're around in the Deep Periphery in some recent novels and short stories). [[What|There are many theories about them returning to Inner Sphere and taking over it as shadow masterminds in order to destroy the clans.]]

===Wars of Reaving===
[[Advancing the Storyline|Fed up with having to write more stuff about clans nobody cares about]], a bunch of clans were wiped out after the Jihad, or driven out of clan territory. While the in-story explanation is that a butthurt ilKhan decided it was time to make a powerplay after not having won anything out of the Inner Sphere Invasion, everyone knows that there were several clans that had no discernable effect on the game.
*'''''Annihilated or Absorbed:'''''
**Blood Spirit: Got wiped out for using civilian militias which "isn't clan-like" and [[Bullshit|marked for annihilation for letting people fight for their homes instead of cooperating with their new leaders as Clan honor dictates.]] As well as using [[Planetary Defense Force|en-mass civilian militias]] to attack their enemies.
**Burrock: Tried to re-establish themselves after being absorbed, got defeated.
**Fire Mandrill: Too fractured to fight back effectively during the Wars of Reaving. What was left of them got absorbed by the Goliath Scorpions and other Homeworld Clans
**Ice Hellion: [[Fail|Killed themselves by trying to steal Jade Falcon and Hell's Horses territory.]] The remaining survivors joined Goliath Scorpion.
**Steel Viper: Took over the Clan Homeworlds and gave everyone free reign to remove the “taint” of the Invader Clans by any means necessary. Forgot that they themselves were an Invader Clan.
**Nova Cat: Destroyed by the Draconis Combine for being on the losing side of a civil war.
*'''''Exiled or Abjured:''''' These clans were forced out of the Clan Homeworlds on the pretense of being "corrupted" by Inner Sphere influences. Some later formed the '''Council of Six Clans''', representing the clans that now exist in the Inner Sphere.
**Ghost Bears: Banished to the Inner Sphere and eventually founded the '''Rasalhague Dominion.''' Joined the Council.
**Goliath Scorpion: Originally sided with the Homeworld Clans to drive the Invader Clans out of the Kerensky Cluster. Then was censured and abjured for absorbing Clan Ice Hellion Warriors and Star League descended mercenaries from Eridani Light Horse in their Clan eugenics program without permission. Ran away and conquered Nueva Castile and Umayyads (Spaniards vs. Arabs IN SPACE) in the Deep Periphery, forming '''Escorpion Imperio.''' By the eve of the Dark Age, they had also conquered their neighbors to the south, the Hanseatic League, and founded a new major Periphery power known as the '''Scorpion Empire''' that's second only to the Homeworld Clans as a military power in the Periphery.
**Hell's Horses: Stole some of Clan Wolf's territory in the Inner Sphere, and end up getting banished from the Clan Homeworlds. Developed a taste for experimenting with QuadVee Mechs (which can convert from a ground combat vehicle into a Quad Mech while also requiring a dedicated gunner). Joined the Council.
**Jade Falcon: Banished to the Inner Sphere and tried to conquer Terra but failed. Still rules the parts of the Inner Sphere they conquered during the Clan Invasion. Replaced the Smoke Jaguars as the most vicious clan under their latest Khan (who's willing to do anything to kill her enemies). Joined the Council. Later got most of their forces wiped out from omnicidal fighting against the Republic, Dragoons, and Wolves on Terra. Said genocidal Khan got killed off and replaced with a pragmatic reformer who agreed to follow the Wolf IlKhan in exchange for the Turquoise Turkeys becoming the IlKhan's body guards.
**Sea Fox/Diamond Shark: Ended up in what's left of the Free Worlds League. Split up into semi-independent merchant fleets and are now a collection of nomadic "Khanates" that sail the starlanes of the Inner Sphere. Joined the Council, but also joined the FWL as a member state. In the meantime, managed to bring the Sea Fox back from extinction, and changed back to their old name.
**Smoke Jaguar: Some of them showed up as super-secret Clanner loyalists called '''Fidelis''' to the Republic of the Sphere. More practical minded than their grandparents but just as likely to go [[rip and tear|berserk]] when fighting any clan warriors for their perceived betrayal. Still in the Fortress Republic. A scant few are found hiding in the Deep Periphery with the few warships that they still had. Later somehow let go of their grudge to pledge allegiance to the Wolve Khan in exchange for reforming their Clan under the IlKhan's protection.
**Snow Raven: Ran away and merged with the Outworlds Alliance in the Periphery, forming the '''Raven Alliance.''' Joined the Council.
**Spirit Cat: What's left of Nova Cats, allied with the Free Worlds League and formed an enclave in their territory with sponsorship from House Marik and Clan Sea Fox.
**Wolf: Splintered into several factions. Basically conquered the central and coreward territories of Lyran Alliance under the '''Wolf Empire.''' Making the Steiners have a bigger headache, their Khan, Katrina Steiner's descendant, claimed the mantle of Archon through her bloodline. Wolves-in-Exile refuse to join and are doing their own thing. Clan Wolf-Alliance joined the Council. “Katrina Steiner’s descendant” is in fact a Trueborn Clanner that Katherine Steiner-Davion had made using both her own genetic material and Victor Steiner-Davion’s, because regular incest just wasn’t crazy enough for her. Later became IlKhan <strike>naturally</strike>.
*'''''Home Clans:''''' Theses clans still hold territory in the Clan Homeworlds and consider themselves "True Clans."
**Cloud Cobra: Still around.
**Coyote: Sneaky bastards. Got their hands on the genetic material of one of Clan Wolves's founders. Outside of the universe, unreliable rumors hint that said founder may have been the last known descendant of House Cameron.
**Star Adder: TOP DOG. Their Khan was the one who stopped the psycho Steel Viper ilKhan by dint of beating his head inside out with the nearest handy blunt object.
**Stone Lions: Made from the Hell's Horses who were left in the Clan Homeworlds and didn't get exiled.

So basically there are now ten Clans: The six Spheroid Clans, and the four Home Clans. The rest are either dead, formed hybrid societies, or are even more minor than before and thus save the writers from some hard work in upcoming TROs.

==The Appeal of Battletech==
First and most obvious, giant stompy Battlemechs bristling with guns duking it out is cool. But despite that, Battletech is in general a more grounded and human setting. You don't have warp daemons, God Emperors, energy forces or psionic powers in Battletech or giant Space Cathedrals and machines that work better when people pray to them. Nor does it have artificial gravity, shields, sapient aliens, serious transhumanism, dyson spheres, general AI and other more wild science fiction ideas. While it does go into some suspense of belief in technology such as KF-FTL drive and HPG-FTL communications, most of the technology is still grounded within the realm of plausible belief. Society-wise, it doesn't go into the speculation on how civilization may come into conflict with divergent ideals or extraterrestrial life, instead you have human people like you and me struggling in a hostile universe where the most dangerous thing is often another human being under another flag. Not that the setting lacks for variety; the main factions are very well developed with their own distinct motivations, even if they do sometimes tend to lean into stereotypes. Battletech is for people who read [[Dune]] and find the idea of the Atreides, Harkonnens, Corinos and the other Great Houses of the Landsraad with their conflicts and their power plays to be far more interesting than what happened after Paul took over. Some others also consider it similar to a teen rated version of [[A Song of Ice and Fire|Game of Thrones]] in space (but with mechs and sci fi tactics in place of mythical creatures and gore).

Battletech is one of the more morally grey settings out there. Moreso than many Grimdark settings where it's a matter of nasty jerks vs literal demons. While there are a few factions which are better or worse than others on the whole ([[Magistracy of Canopus]] vs [[Clan Smoke Jaguar]]) all of the factions have their share of virtue and vice, heroes and villains. Good people can come up from the Nobility of the Federated Suns, Citizens of the Capellan Confederation or the Iron Wombs of The Clans, as can a lot real nasty bastards. In that regard, this is a rather tragic universe. In this universe nobody is corrupted by Chaos or seduced by the Dark Side. Instead humanity took to the stars and flourished, only to be brought low because their leaders were in the end just human with human failings.

As far as Mecha design goes, Battletech designs run the gamut from box-on-legs (Awesome, Dragon, etc), to egg-on-legs (Catapult, Marauder, etc), through to very polished designs (which were mostly stolen from Japanese anime shows). Wrong, they hired a third party artist who sold his designs to them and the other guys. Some of the later work, post-FASA, could be quite smooth, to the point of organic looking. As such, BattleTech is a pastiche of various art styles and design philosophies, covering the range of reactions from "cool-but-impractical", to "eh, practical-and-possible", and well out into the area that will make your engineering professor have a mental fit.

Lastly from a hobbyist perspective, BattleTech tries to make itself as accessable as possible. It's set up more like a [[board game]] than a miniatures wargame. The basic rules are free online, and you're allowed to represent a mech with anything you can fit in the hex grid — including paper cutouts, so you can pick up and play with anyone willing to learn the rules with you.

==Mechanics==
[[Image:Group-Plastic-Miniatures.jpg|thumb|right|The standard use of hexmaps renders the purchase of miniatures optional, though miniatures rules for the game are available.]]
[[Image:Blankrecordsheet.jpg|thumb|right|Record sheets are one of ''BattleTechs''' greatest blessings and curses.]]
The basic mechanic is simple. Two six-sided dice are used, with a to-hit (Equal or greater to) system. Initiative is interlaced, with the loser moving first and the winner able to react. All weapons damage is technically done at the same time, and therefore who shoots first is insignificant, although the order in which weapons fire from any given unit resolves is important. Larger weapons can scrub off large quantities of ablative armor, while smaller multi-hit weapons stand a better chance of forcing critical hits once a location is damaged. If you get hit, you mark off the weapons damage rating from your armor. If the shot penetrates your armor, you roll potential criticals. Firing weapons and moving about generates heat, which you must keep down to keep your 'Mech working properly.

Unlike games such as ''[[Warhammer]]'', where many units are either killed on the first shot or left unscathed, and little information is recorded, ''BattleTech'' uses record sheets to mark off each 'Mech's cumulative damage, ammunition, pilot status, and heat. Also, there are hit locations, so limbs can be blown off. The record sheets allow for effects that are more detailed, but this also increases the overall playtime. Although expert players can get through matches just as fast as players of other games of more or less equal size, new players often find that the game plays slowly. This is usually due to the time spent referencing hit-location tables, critical effects, etc. For new players, 2V2 matches are best, with 4V4 matches being the "cap", in order to have games that do not take excessively long. More experienced players can run games of 12v12 or larger in an afternoon, though these will often be multi-player games in which each ''player'' controls only a handful of 'Mechs.

One of the biggest appeals of ''BattleTech'' is that all of its units are made with a predefined set of rules. Custom designs are fully possible, though they are not likely to be welcome in tournament matches or pick-up games.

''BattleTech'' uses a build system based on 'Mech tonnage. You start with a Chassis limit, from 20-100 tons. You then determine engine size based on how fast you want your 'Mech to be (how many hexes you want it to be able to move per turn) you then allocate the remaining tonnage to control systems, weapons, ammo and armor. This method varies slightly depending on the technology of the chassis, but not overmuch. Though the system has recently been removed, there were previously three levels of technology.

'''Level 1''' (Now called "Introductory Tech") referred to early-era gameplay. Only the more rudimentary weapons and technologies are available, though the critical rules remain the same. This is the preferred level at which to learn, and is synonymous with the equipment available during the Succession Wars era. It is also the level of play made possible with starter boxes.

'''Level 2''' was Tournament-level gameplay. This introduced new equipment and electronics, as well as Clan technology (A more technologically advanced, but militant people). Though the rules are generally the same as those in level 1 gameplay, more-complicated equipment such as ECM, anti-missile systems, cluster munitions, etc. were better suited to more experienced players. It is the level of play made possible with separately-purchased rulebooks. Note that as the in-universe timeline advances, some more-advanced technology is designated "tournament-level", and several items that were Level 3 before the switch are also now "Tournament-Level".

'''Level 3''' referred to all advanced gameplay and equipment, including specialized gear from Historical manuals and the ''Solaris VII'' boxed sets/adventures. This has since been split out into "advanced", "experimental", and "era-specific" technology. This also included all equipment that was not listed in the core rulebooks. More complex rules were inserted in order to increase the realism and flexibility of the game. These include new weapons, new or altered terrain rules, artillery, alternate rules for major mechanics such as line-of-sight, etc. Though Level 3 rules included "prototype" equipment not printed in the core rulebooks, the standard rulebook in regards to Level 3 play was called ''Maxtech''. This has now been replaced by the Catalyst Games release of ''Tactical Operations'' and its sequels.

'''Advanced''' technology (not to be confused with "advanced rules" is covered largely in ''Tactical Operations'', and may be common but incorporates additional rules or restrictions that make it difficult to use without preparation.

'''Experimental''' tech is not mass-produced in-universe. The items are used in one-offs, prototype designs, and other weirdness. The ''Experimental Technical Readout'' series showcases this tech level, and most of the rules are in ''Tactical Operations'' or ''Strategic Operations''.

'''Era-specific''' technology incorporates advancements that were later abandoned in-verse. Usually these items were displaced by a superior version of the same technology, although there are some like the Listen-Kill missiles (which exploited a weakness in standard ECM protocols, later patched out) which are simply active for a few years and then abandoned once changing circumstances make them ineffective. Era-specific tech is the province of Historical sourcebooks, the ''Interstellar Operations'' rulebook, and a few campaign books.

==Spinoff Games==
Due to its popularity through the late 80s and early 90s, ''BattleTech'' spawned a multitude of spinoffs and expansion games.

'''[[Lost Worlds]]''' dueling books. NOVA adapted their melee dueling system to make four books for Battletech mecha. Each book has the opponent's view of the mech on each page, and a character sheet listing possible maneuvers. Since it used the same system as the rest of their books, you could have "20-ton Locust vs. skeleton with scimitar" duels.

'''Mechwarrior''' was a traditional pen-and-paper RPG set in the Battletech universe, using a ruleset similar to FASA's other hit RPG [[Shadowrun]]. It got second(1991) and third(1999) editions, then was later rebooted by Fanpro and Catalyst Games under the respective titles ''Classic Battletech RPG'' and '''Battletech: A Time of War''', likely to avoid conflation with WhizKids' ''Mechwarrior: Dark Age''. Also because by then the "Mechwarrior" title was fully associated with the video games.

'''AeroTech''' and '''BattleSpace''' were both games featuring Aerospace Fighters and DropShips/WarShips respectively, fighting in orbit before any of the action in the BattleTech game itself could begin. Both games eventually got absorbed into BattleTech's rules in the ''Total Warfare'' edition.

'''Battletroops''' was an infantry-scale game about the PBI who fight it out it in the shadow of Battlemechs. It later gained ''Clantroops'', an expansion pack that incorporated clan equipment as well as Battle Armor on both sides, but the game did not sell as well and the rules have since been abandoned.

'''Battleforce''' was a revision of '''BattleTech''', made in recognition of the fact that large-scale combat could not be effectively played out using the current system. Battleforce simplified each 'mech into a simple set of numbers, so that they could be clustered into units and fight over a much larger area. Battleforce 2, released about a decade later, also introduced planetary invasion maps and rules to go along with them. Although the maps are available in Map Compilation 2, the rules will be reprinted in the ''Strategic Operations'' and ''Interstellar Operations'' sourcebooks.

The '''Solaris VII Boxed set''' was made to simulate the fast-paced gladiatorial combat on the game's world of Solaris VII. It included new rules, new maps with special rules, new mechs, and supplements for roleplaying. Little known fact: some of the designs used in the original Solaris VII set were redesigns of the ''BattleTech'' 'mechs which were themselves copies of Japanese mechs! When the product tried to sell in Japan, half of the designs were already copyrighted by other well known anime companies, and the in-house designs were simply not "Japanese" enough for their tastes. Though the product itself flopped, its maps were reprinted and rereleased in 2004, as well as a complimentary up-to-date rulebook. Rules have since been standardized to match those of ''Classic Battletech'', but "Special Map rules" have been included.

The '''BattleTech Collectible Cardgame''' was produced by Wizards of the Coast in 1996, and ran until 1998. Though its popularity had begun to wane after the first core set, the release of the Pokemon card game was the nail in the coffin. The Battletech CCG hosted some very impressive artwork, though the game favored swarm-decks filled with plenty of weak, cheap 'mechs, and it's non-"Creature" cards were too weak to have an effective deck based around them. After five editions (''Battletech Limited''/''Unlimited'', ''Counterstrike'', ''Mercenaries'', ''Mechwarrior'', ''Arsenal'') Battletech CCG came out with ''Commander's Edition'', which picked some of the best cards of the last few editions (though it abandoned or revised some cards for inaccuracies or "brokenness") It had one final expansion, Crusade, which introduced the Steel Viper clan, though there were some prior cards that did reference the clan.

In July, 2013, Catalyst Game Labs released '''Alpha Strike''', a miniatures combat ruleset designed specifically to appeal to fans of Warhammer and Flames of War. It combined BattleForce statistics with improved miniatures rules. It's generally scoffed at by grognards but the only feasible way to play a regiment-sized battle in less than one lifetime.

==Video Games==
'''Official Games'''
* Crescent Hawk's Inception (Infocom, 1988)
* MechWarrior (Activision, 1989)
* Crescent Hawks' Revenge (Infocom, 1990)

* MechWarrior II (Activision, 1995)
* MechWarrior II: Mercernaries (Activision 1995)
** MechCommander (FASA, 1998)
* MechWarrior III (Microprose, 1999)
* MechWarrior IV: Vengeance (FASA/Microsoft, 2000), Black Knight (Microsoft, 2001), Mercenaries (Microsoft, 2002)
** These games had two expansions that gave more mechs, the Inner Sphere Mech Pack and Clan Mech Pack.
** MekTek released a legal port of Mercenaries, with both Mech Packs, new mechs, and battlesuits all inside, plus multiplayer support. Grab it from ModDB, abandonware sites, or your tracker of choice.
* Mechassault 1 (Day 1/Microsoft, 2002 for Xbox)
* Mechassault 2: Lone Wolf (Day 1/Microsoft, 2004 for Xbox)
* MechCommander II (FASA/Microsoft, 2001. The full game is offered by Microsoft for free [http://www.microsoft.com/en-ph/download/details.aspx?id=11457 here].)
* MechWarrior Online MMO (Smith & Tinker/Piranha Games, A F2P game first released on 2012 and currently out as a full product on Steam.)
* MechWarrior Tactical Command (Personae Studios, 2012?, [[Fail|for iPhone/iPad]]. After some uncertainty, MTC was fully released in the iTunes store. Too bad it sucks.)
* BattleTech (Harebrained Schemes, 2018) - funded through Kickstarter and headed up by Jordan Weisman)
** Turn-based strategy game, similar to the original tabletop game. Takes place during the Succession Wars, in a formerly empty area of the Periphery.
*MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries: (Piranha Games, 2019). Also takes place during the Succession Wars. Because nobody wants to take the time to portray the cluster fuck that is the Blake Jihad properly.

'''Unlicensed Games'''
* [http://www.mechlivinglegends.net Mechwarrior Living Legends] (Wandering Samurai/Clan Jade Wolf, 2011)

'''The following are free, homemade versions of Battletech:'''
* MechWar v1.12 (MS-DOS)
* [http://megamek.info/ MegaMek] (Java)
* BTMUX - ASCII-only MMO (anyone old enough to remember what a MUD is?) (any OS) You could play it in pure ASCII, or get [http://bt-thud.sourceforge.net/thud/ a graphical helper] Most of the existing ones are gone, but [http://frontiermux.com/news.php FrontierMUX] seems to still be alive.
* <strike>[http://neveron.com/ Neveron] (web-based mmo)</strike> [Taken offline on July 31st 2014]
* [http://www.titansofsteel.de/ Titans of Steel] (MS-Windows)

==Current State==
[[File:Never give up.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Little Urbie, the greatest of us all.]]
As of 2022, Battletech is in the best state it's been in a long time. After sitting on the property for close to a decade without doing anything, Catalyst has used Kickstarter to fund a series of plastic mech sculpts. Lots of this was enabled by finally resolving the legal dispute with Harmony Gold on the Unseen, but the end result is that, for the first time ever, a wide range of high quality plastic mech miniatures are legitimately available. There's a "dip your toe" style starter kit with the Beginner Box, the true starter kit in Battletech: A Game of Armored Combat, and another for the clans with Clan Invasion. Beyond those, there's a total of twenty different "Force Packs" available, each having 4-6 mechs centered on a theme of some sort. Since you only need about one Force Pack's worth of mechs to play at all, ease of starting the game is definitely one of Battletech's major virtues now.

===MechWarrior Online===
[http://mwomercs.com/ Mechwarrior Online] has, as of this writing, been running for a decade and only now showing signs of slowing down (and as of 2022, the purchase of PGI by EG7 has seen this reversed, with new development going into MWO, including the first new Mech Pack since 2019). A competitive sim-shooter, Mechwarrior Online has probably been a commercial success and helped get at least some people into the hobby, but its main virtue was as a source of redesigned mechs. 3D prints of models from MWO are easily found on Etsy, providing modern looks for mechs that CGL hasn't gotten around to resculpting yet.

===Battletech 2018===
Harebrained Schemes announced their return to Kickstarter in fall 2015 in order to fund [http://battletechgame.com/ Battletech], a turn based tactics game featuring RPG mechanics for Mechs and MechWarriors. The final result was a very respectable strategy game - you play as a mercenary company commander in the year 3025, starting with a patchy collection of low grade mechs and keeping your aging DropShip from falling apart around you. Gameplay is fairly close to the tabletop but not an exact recreation. The campaign follows a power struggle for control of the Aurigan Reach, a region of mostly unimportant space at the rimward end of the map, between the Magistracy of Canopus and the Taurian Concordat. The game was followed up by three DLCs - Flashpoint, which added a series of mini-campaigns of 2-3 missions each, most of them tying into Battletech canon, Urban Warfare, which naturally added urban environments, and Heavy Metal, which added more mechs and a series of flashpoint campaigns surrounding the crash-site of a lost Star League era JumpShip with [[Clan Wolverine|obscured origins]]. Overall, Battletech 2018 is probably the standout Battletech game of the 2010s and a great strategy game in its own right.

Several fan-made mod packs (notably [https://www.nexusmods.com/battletech/mods/79/ RogueTech] and [https://www.nexusmods.com/battletech/mods/452/ BattleTech Advanced 3062]) have been produced which significantly extend the life of the vanilla game. These mods introduce many new factions, dozens of new 'Mechs and tanks, hundreds of new pieces of 'Mech equipment, a far larger star-map sandbox to play in, and far more depth to the 'Mech customization system as well as many quality of life changes. RogueTech in particular attempts to bring the game more in line with the tabletop experience and offers a much higher degree of gameplay complexity compared to vanilla Battletech.

===Mercenaries 5===
Oof. Well, they gave it a shot. After over a decade since the last Mechwarrior game, Mechwarrior 5 was released and it was...kind of a flop. Repetitive missions and buggy AI were the primary issues, and the post-launch DLCs and bug fixes only did so much to help. As of this writing, mod support has been added, so the fans might make MW5 worth it at some point...but for now, don't bother.

As of 2022, the game is now playable with all of the DLC. Notably, MW5 has incorporated melee combat in free updates, and is adding melee weapons with the next DLC. In hindsight, it's rather jarring realizing that we have been playing giant robot games without the ability to rock 'em and sock 'em. Melee better fucking get added to MWO to balance the all-powerful lights against the heavies and assaults they so often hard-counter.

==The Tetatae (Skub Tribal Jungle Chickens)==

There is only 1 known sapient Xenos race in the BattleTech setting. The Tetatae are tribal bird people armed with spears who inhabit a Jungle World. They show up in a far-off world in uncharted space populated with some stranded humans from the Draconis Combine. The inclusion of sapient species was such a [[Rage|controversial]] [[Fail|action]] that the novel introducing them, Far Country, was promptly ignored by both the lore developers and fans ever since it came out.

According to the author the book was suppose to be the first of a canned series of books linked to a also reduced in scale tabletop expansion/campaign pack that would had dealt with the attempt to find the Clan Home-worlds by Comstar's Explorer Corps's (something started in the wake of a few events in the backstory to try to find the SLDF exiles only to end up ironically causing the clans to invade when one of their ship stumbles on the Smoke Jaguar's home system) that would had included potential alien encounters in their searches, instead of the full on expansion/campaign they decided to scale it into a source book minus alien encounters.

(Should be noted that this story was properly retconned. Far Country is an In-universe TV show. The same way the Battletech TV show is just a in-universe production).

==External links==
*[http://megamek.sf.net Play through the tubes with MegaMek]
*[http://www.sarna.net Battletech Wiki that holds much information about the universe]
*[http://bgb.booru.org/index.php Blue Gunner Booru, a /btg/-maintained taggable gallery of BT and related art. Perpetually in-progress.]
[[Category:Wargames]][[Category:Skirmish-Level Wargames]][[Category:BattleTech]]

==Gallery==
<center>
<gallery>
File:Glorious_3d_Terrain.JPG|Glorious 3d terrain
File:More_Glorious_3d_Terrain.JPG|More glorious 3d terrain
File:Infantry_Strike_From_Behind_As_The_Kuritian_Lance_Takes_On_4_Steiner_Mechs_And_6_Tanks.JPG|Infantry strike from behind as the Kuritan lance takes on 4 Steiner mechs and 6 tanks
File:Kuritians_Advancing.JPG|Kuritans advancing
File:Surrounded.JPG|Kick party
File:Eridani_Light_Horses_MechWarrior.png|Bad mofo
File:You're_awesome.jpg
File:Dougram_and_shadowhawk_comparison.png|The original anime mecha Dougram (left) compared to the original "unseen" Shadowhawk (center) and the modern Shadowhawk (right), a robot so badass it transcends cultures and 4chan boards
</gallery>
</center>

==Factions Portal==
{{Battletech Factions}}
[[Category: BattleTech]]

==/tg/ Battletech Creations==
*[[Velatine Federal Republic]]
*[[/tg/ Homebrew Mech Designs]]
*[[Sunbats mercenary company]]
*[[/btg/ Harebrained Battalion II]]

Middle East

2022-05-04T18:52:16Z

2607:FB90:6FF4:7A06:D087:A795:6215:797A: /* Middle Eastern Religion, Gods and Mythology */

{{skubby}}

[[image:Middle_East.png|thumb|300px|right|A thousand sights, a thousand nights, a thousand years, a thousand tears...]]
{{topquote|They say in the Middle East - a pessimist is simply an optimist with experience.| Ehud Barak}}

The Middle East is a region that broadly spans from [[Egypt]] in the west to [[India]] in the east with northern and southern borders being the Black & Caspian sea and the Arabian Sea respectively. In the middle of all of this is over 6000 years of civilization, at least half-a-dozen awesome and significant cultures, more history than you can shake a...anything at really and also a fuckton of culture, wars and mineable stuff. The importance of the region and it's myriad of cultures has not lessened in the 20th and 21st centuries as the region continues to be, if not exactly influential, then influenced due to the resources and politics going on around it and within it.

Since it is Europe's closest neighbour, the region and it's societies have been interacting with the smorgasbord of Europe's cultures since at least the [[Bronze Age]] so there are a number of analogues of Middle Eastern societies in fantasy and even sci-fi. Dungeons and Dragons has [[Al-Qadim]], [[Lord of the Rings]] has Harad, Game of Thrones has Mereen and so on. And this is not even counting [[Video Games]] either.

== Middle Eastern History ==

The Middle East, being one of the ¨cradles of civilization¨ has metric gigatons of history under it's belt, more than even [[China]] so the sections below will be the broadest overviews by necessity. Still the history van be roughly divided into 4 periods with a number of sub-periods within each. So strap yourself in as we dive into the deep end of history.

=== Ancient History (4000 BC - 500 AD) ===
[[image:Babylon.png|thumb|300px|right|Between the time when the oceans drank Atlantis and the rise of the sons of Aryas, there was an age undreamed of...]]
After the period of various neolithic cultures discovering agriculture, the first human towns and city-states began to form (these could go back to as early as 9000-7000 BC as attested by Catal Huyuk and Jericho). The most prominent cities of this period were Uruk, Babillon, Elam and others. Two civilizations of note arose in this era around 3500 BC - Sumer and Akkad which are famous for their ziggurats (OG pyramids) and for laying the basis for much of civilization in the west since their stuff was picked up by Egyptians, then Greeks and so on. In about 2340 BC Sargon the Great united the various city-states in the south and thus founded the Akkadian dynasty - the world's first empire.

This set a kind of precedent for future powerful empires that would come to rule almost the entire Middle East. After Akkadians, of note are the Assyrian Empires of 1365–1076 BC and the Neo-Assyrian Empire of 911–605 BC. The Assyrian Empire at its peak was the largest the world had yet seen. It ruled all of what is now Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Kuwait, Jordan, [[Egypt]], Cyprus, and Bahrain—with large swathes of Iran, Turkey, Armenia, Georgia, Sudan, and Arabia.

From the early 6th century BC onwards there were several Persian states that dominated the region, beginning with the non-Persian Neo-Babylonian Empire, then their successor the Achaemenid Empire also known as the first Persian Empire. In the 300s BC a gigachad guy called Alexander the Great decided that he wanted to rule the world and so he went ahead and conquered everything from Greece to Egypt all the way to the border of [[India]]. Sadly he died just as he was getting to the process of ruling his mega-empire and in a final moment of chadery he declared that his empire would belong "to the strongest" and within 5 minutes there were a bunch of successor empires like the Seleucids, Bactrians, Ptolemaic [[Egypt]] and others, and virtually all of them had a city called Alexandria but the one in Egypt mattered most.

After Alexander, the various Alexandrian successor states were dicking around with each other, not noticing the big roman-shaped shadow rising in the west. In 66–63 BC the Roman general Pompey got shit done and conquered much of the Middle East in one fell swoop. The Romans united the region into yet another giga-empire and integrated the region with most of Europe and North Africa in terms of politics and economics, not to mention the globalising effect of free transit for imperial citizens and dependents. Even areas not directly under Rome were strongly influenced by the Empire which was the most powerful political and cultural entity for centuries.

Though Romans brought much of their culture, law and customs to the region, the Greek culture and language continued to dominate as well, being another strong cultural factor. The region effectively became the Empire's "bread basket" as the key agricultural producer and as a somewhat of a consolation for egyptians who survived as a culture this long - Ægyptus became by far the most wealthy Roman province and a center of learning.

It's also worth mentioning that to the east of Roman Empire were also two major polities - the Parthian and the Kushan empires. The former represented a constant threat to Rome's eastern boundaries before transitioning into the Sassanid Empire due to internal strife while Kushan would do it's own thing. There is also evidence of Tang [[China]] doing trade with the region and even being aware of Rome. Lastly, starting from the 30s AD - Christianity would see a significant spread from Palestine/Judea though it would not advance much farther east than Euphrates-Tigris border in a significant manner.

After the fragmentation of the Western Roman Empire, the eastern half decided that it really liked the color purple and rebranded itself as...the Roman Empire (Byzantium being an anachronistic modern name but we will roll with it for the sake of convenience). Byzantium continued to trudge along, occupying the western portion of the region and even expanding to reconquer a respectable amount of the former Roman Empire in the 500s though from there it would decline in favour of other powers.

=== Medieval History (500 - 1000) ===
[[image:Bazaar.png|thumb|300px|right|You want it? It's yours sadiq, so long as you have enough gold!]]
In the 5-6th centuries the Middle East was separated into small, weak states loomed over by two vast empires - the Sasanian Empire of the Persians and the Byzantine Empire in Anatolia plus the Levant. The Byzantines and Sasanians dicked with each other as a neat reflection of the rivalry between the Roman and the Persian empires. The Byzantine-Sasanian rivalry was also seen through their respective cultures and religions. The Byzantines were the champions of Hellenism and Christianity while the Sasanians thought themselves heroes of ancient Iranian traditions and of the traditional Persian religion - Zoroastrianism.

Meanwhile, down south we have the Arabian Peninsula which largely was and continued to be a dustbowl of little importance. The nomadic Bedouin tribes dominated the Arabian deserts where they worshiped idols and were organised into small clans based on mutual kinship. There were scant cities and agriculture in Arabia except for Mecca and Medina (then called Yathrib) which were important hubs for trade between Africa and Eurasia with most citizens there being merchants - this all will become important VERY SOON.

Right around 620-30s there arose a new ofshoot of abrahamic religions - Islam, and it would become big, really big. The details on Islam can be found on the respective [[Mythology|page]] or on the other wiki, but the religion blew up FAST and in some 40 years after it's inception managed to conquer whole of Arabia, Persia and vast swathes of Byzantine empire. An interesting thing about Islam is that it's prophet Mohammad was also a military and political leader and while Jesus or Buddha left us general ethical and metaphysical messages, Mohammad was around for a bit longer and proscribed social and political tenets to the faith which gave rise to the concept of a Caliphate - a theocratic social polity that was to be the way to run things. The conquest stopped in the 750s as the new Caliphate ran out of steam and the usual fracturing between successors began after Muhammad was unalived, but Islam had by this time profiled itself as the pre-eminent socio-political and religious force in the Middle East under the various dynasties of the Caliphates.

Shortly after Islam became the dominant religion in Arabia, the Muslim conquests expanded ''very'' rapidly east and west, spreading across all of North Africa and even into southern Europe, where they claimed the entirety of Spain for centuries and besieged large parts of Italy and France. The Byzantines and Franks successfully halted further expansion, but Caliphate still claimed enough territory to rival and eventually supersede the Byzantines. The wealth and power that came with it ensured that the formerly backwater state of Arabia would remain a powerhouse for years to come.

The Arabian islamic vanguard would continue to dominate the newly conquered and islamised lands for the next 300 years. When Muhammad introduced Islam it had a the effect of nearly erasing the other various Middle Eastern cultures, although it also inspired advances in architecture, science, technology, and the formation of a distinct way of life giving it overall a mixed heritage. Islam also created the need for spectacularly built mosques to flex on their Abrahamic siblings which also created a unique form of architecture. Meanwhile, missionaries and warriors worked to forcibly spread the religion from Arabia to North and Sudanic Africa, South and Southeast Asia, and the Mesopotamia area. This created a potent mix of cultures, especially in Africa. Lastly, the "People of the Book" (Christians, Jews, and Zoroastrians) were allowed to live although in second class conditions. This courtesy wasn't extended to members of polytheist religions or Buddhism, with those folks being given the option of convert or die. This period would be disrupted by two events - the arrival of Seljuks/Turks and the Crusades.

=== The Crusades (1000 - 1300) ===
In the 1000's, the Persians (now rebranded as the Seljuks) started some shit with the Byzantines that ultimately ended with them sacking Constantinople. Between the eastern armies crossing the Hellespont and the blocking of pilgrimages into Jerusalem was the last straw for Christendom, and war were declared, whereupon thousands of ambitious princes, mercenaries, fugitives, and fanatics swarmed to Venice, got on boats, and proceeded to invade Jerusalem, intending to take back the Holy Land for Christendom from the Mohammedans.

Individual crusades were met with varied success; the first Crusade successfully caught the Seljuks offguard and led to the creation of the so-called Crusader States, which lasted for about a hundred years. Then an Arab warlord named Saladin who broke off from the Seljuks successfully rallied the people of Egypt and Syria to reclaim Jerusalem; following this, several more crusades were waged by Europe to retake the city, none of which were successful. Several centuries of war ensued, and while the invaders from Europe won the occasional dramatic victory, they were eventually forced away, although it did end any aspirations of Islam forcing its culture upon Europe.

And as the stalwart defenders of Arabia stood on the coast of Palestine, watching the sun set on their retreating enemies, they suddenly heard behind them the cheers and horse hooves of a million GODDAMN MONGOLIANS.

[[image:Constantinople-from-the-entrance-thomas-allom.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Lots of ottomans there, also some Ottomans. ]]

=== Ottoman Period (1300 - 1918) ===
The Ilkhanate hordes of Tulai ultimately were held out of Arabia, although the Seljuks fell to them completely. But as has been established in many other articles featuring the Mongols, they weren't very good at REMAINING Mongol once they ran out of things to put arrows in; in this case they discovered Islam and for once decided that some outsider's religion was actually their kind of thing, probably having to do with a similar bloodthirstiness towards "the other". What succeeded them was the Ottoman empire. Over the next 500 years the Ottomans would largely reunite all of the former Roman territories east of Cisalpine Gaul, into a massive, mostly-Islamic caliphate held together by the Turks, Greeks, and Egyptians that formed its foundation.

The power that held the Ottomans together was the [[Space Marines|Janissaries]]. A Janissary was a Christian male from the Balkan areas of the Empire, forcibly conscripted in youth and forced to convert to Islam (including getting circumcised, since the conscriptees would have been mostly Orthodox), and then subjected to a rigorous military training that made them one of the most elite fighting forces of their time. They were forbidden to marry before forty, but were paid a lifetime salary. Although a brutal system, the resulting army was exceptionally professional, impartial to the empire's many tribes and territories, and utterly loyal to the Sultanate. The net effect of the Janissaries were that the individual animosities of various sects were dampened under Ottoman rule, in favor of the [[Tau|greater greed]] of the Sultanate.

For most of it's life, the Ottoman empire wasn't a terribly bad place to live if you were a Muslim. There was relative peace and prosperity due to flourishing trade as it stood at the crossroads between the Mediterranean and the sea routes to the far east. There was religious freedom as long as taxes were paid (except for non-monotheists) and all the wealth and luxuries of the world to be found in their markets. Interestingly, there were THREE separate, government sanctioned court systems, specifically one system for muslims, another for christians & jews, and the trade courts which handled civil and commercial disputes. The good times ended however when the Europeans discovered that it was slightly cheaper to sail all the fuck way around Africa than to pay Ottoman taxes.

[[image:ModernMiddleEast.jpg|thumb|300px|right|We've come a long way, eh sadiq?]]

=== Modern History (1918 - 20XX) ===
After Ottoman Empire was defeated and WW1 ended, French and Brits decided to screw their own Middle Eastern allies (as usual) and set up their own colonial regimes and puppet states, this was all but codified in the secret Sykes-Picot Agreement which created a bunch of artificial states that would all but guarantee that the region north of Saudi Arabia would remain a socio-political quagmire for many decades to come. Most notable ones are French Syria, British Palestine and Kuwait, as well as marionette Kingdom of Iraq. Saudi Arabia was also formed in that time period from old Arabian peninsula states, while Oman and Yemen became British puppets. This status quo remained all the way up to 1950s, even during WWII (well, if you don't count joint Allied intervention to Iran to prevent it from joining the Axis and get a new safe way for a land-lease, as well as short Iraqi campaign to weed out pro-Hitler Golden Square Party).

During the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s, Syria and Egypt made moves towards independence since the Sick man of Bosphorus was fast dying of anachronism and lack of key reforms. Although the Kingdom of Egypt was technically "neutral" during World War II, Cairo soon became a major military base for the British and the country was occupied. In Palestine, a potent shitstorm was brewing as conflicting forces of Arab nationalism and Zionism created a situation the British could neither resolve nor gtfo from. The rise of Germany's Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party, who the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem told the idea of the Holocaust to, had created a new urgency in the Zionist quest to immigrate to Palestine and create a Jewish state.

The modern Middle East was primarily shaped by three factors - decolonisation as Europe just gave up on the overcomplicated region to deal with issues at home, the founding of the state of Israel with all the "FUN" that entailed, and the growing importance of this stinky slimy substance called oil. A further layer of complexity was added by the new [[Cold War]] order which saw the world's two remaining superpowers - the USA/NATO and USSR/Warsaw Pact take a keen interest in the region due to various opportunities to dick with each other and the region being the largest (then) known source of civilization-driving oil, with the U.S.A. supporting Israel's right to exist, and the Soviets supporting Palestine's wish to drive the Jews into the sea, figuring they could finish off the Jews and have one less religion they'd have to finish off themselves if they could conquer the Middle East.

== Middle Eastern Culture ==

In general, Middle Eastern and Central Asian cultures in the region can be split into Semitic (Hebrew, Syriac, Arab, etc), Iranic (Persian, Farsi, Tajik, Baloch, etc), and Turkic (Azeri, Kazakh, Uzbek, etc) alongside related/historically related groups on the outer edges of the region (such as the Caucasus-inhabiting Armenians or Georgians and the Urdu-Hindi groups in [[India]] in the former case or the Kushans, Scythians, Huns, & Mongols in the latter case). The long history of the region means many of the cultures and ethnic groups have long histories of contact and intermingling with each other with both peaceful and violent interactions with each other like in the European Balkans.

== Middle Eastern Religion, Gods and Mythology ==

More than any other region, the Middle East is indelibly linked to the history of monotheism. Greek and Egyptian polytheistic systems coexisted alongside Persian Zoroastrianism and the Abrahamic Hebrew and many other minor sects. All of which were subjugated in the successive conquests of Alexander, and then Rome behind him.

The Romans acted as a great plow, tilling the region and leaving all the minor tribes and faiths fertile for proselytization. And the winner of this great disruption was Abrahamism, which stomped out most of its competitors (ie, the Gnostics). Christianity rose in lockstep with opposition to Roman rule, and then Islam in turn followed it as a response to the void as the empire fell, and finally eastern orthodoxy as the Catholic church began to schism.

By 1100 AD, the following could be said:

* Islam commanded the majority of the region, with the Shia branch being strongest in old Persia and the Sunni being dominant pretty much everywhere else. The Ibadi moderate spinoffs from the Khawarij zeaots who attacked both sides were restricted to Oman with small pockets in the Sahara.
* Orthodox Christians (in Coptic, Assyrian and Greek flavors) were entrenched as minorities in the old Greek colonies north of Arabia, in Assyrian region (yes, the nation is still there, but is very small now) and in Egypt.
* Zoroastrianism and Judaism were entrenched as minorities all over, with some concentration in their respective homelands of Persia and Jerusalem respectively.
* Polytheism in the Middle East, in all of its Egyptian, Hellenistic, Babylonian, and Indo-Aryan (yes, the same root pantheon that the Germanic, Hellenistic, and pre-Brahmic/Hindu pantheons came from but that’s a whole different story) flavors, was extinct.

== Middle Eastern Magic ==

The Middle East has its fair share of supernatural folklore such as the Djinn, ghouls, Shedu, Magi, etc. In addition, no thanks to Alexander the Great’s conquest of the region, alongside the long rule of the Diadochi, the Silk Road, and the Mongol invasions, meant that the Central Asian and Middle Eastern region served as a melting pot for ideas to be exchanged and and syncretized. One example being the conflation of Heracles from the Greco-Batrian settlers with the guardian bodhisattva, Vajrapāṇi, in Buddhism. On the other hand, once monotheism became dominant in the Middle East proper, such theological exchanges lessoned out with the focus being on philosophical, economic, and scientific exchanges instead.

==Middle East Analogs in Fantasy==

* [[Araby]] (duh), [[Badlands]] (in geographical sense) and [[Darklands]] (culturally) in [[Warhammer Fantasy Battle]].
* [[Tallarn Desert Raiders]] Regiment of [[Imperial Guard]] in [[Warhammer 40,000]].
* [[Al-Qadim]] campaign setting from [[DnD]]
* Near Harad from [[Lord of the Rings]]
* Prince of Persia series of vidya
* Shaqqislam factions in [[Infinity]]
* The Imperium (both the Empires ruled by the Corrino and Atreides Dynasties) in [[Dune]]

[[Category: History]]

Middle East

2022-05-04T18:39:56Z

2607:FB90:6FF4:7A06:D087:A795:6215:797A: /* Middle Eastern Culture */

{{skubby}}

[[image:Middle_East.png|thumb|300px|right|A thousand sights, a thousand nights, a thousand years, a thousand tears...]]
{{topquote|They say in the Middle East - a pessimist is simply an optimist with experience.| Ehud Barak}}

The Middle East is a region that broadly spans from [[Egypt]] in the west to [[India]] in the east with northern and southern borders being the Black & Caspian sea and the Arabian Sea respectively. In the middle of all of this is over 6000 years of civilization, at least half-a-dozen awesome and significant cultures, more history than you can shake a...anything at really and also a fuckton of culture, wars and mineable stuff. The importance of the region and it's myriad of cultures has not lessened in the 20th and 21st centuries as the region continues to be, if not exactly influential, then influenced due to the resources and politics going on around it and within it.

Since it is Europe's closest neighbour, the region and it's societies have been interacting with the smorgasbord of Europe's cultures since at least the [[Bronze Age]] so there are a number of analogues of Middle Eastern societies in fantasy and even sci-fi. Dungeons and Dragons has [[Al-Qadim]], [[Lord of the Rings]] has Harad, Game of Thrones has Mereen and so on. And this is not even counting [[Video Games]] either.

== Middle Eastern History ==

The Middle East, being one of the ¨cradles of civilization¨ has metric gigatons of history under it's belt, more than even [[China]] so the sections below will be the broadest overviews by necessity. Still the history van be roughly divided into 4 periods with a number of sub-periods within each. So strap yourself in as we dive into the deep end of history.

=== Ancient History (4000 BC - 500 AD) ===
[[image:Babylon.png|thumb|300px|right|Between the time when the oceans drank Atlantis and the rise of the sons of Aryas, there was an age undreamed of...]]
After the period of various neolithic cultures discovering agriculture, the first human towns and city-states began to form (these could go back to as early as 9000-7000 BC as attested by Catal Huyuk and Jericho). The most prominent cities of this period were Uruk, Babillon, Elam and others. Two civilizations of note arose in this era around 3500 BC - Sumer and Akkad which are famous for their ziggurats (OG pyramids) and for laying the basis for much of civilization in the west since their stuff was picked up by Egyptians, then Greeks and so on. In about 2340 BC Sargon the Great united the various city-states in the south and thus founded the Akkadian dynasty - the world's first empire.

This set a kind of precedent for future powerful empires that would come to rule almost the entire Middle East. After Akkadians, of note are the Assyrian Empires of 1365–1076 BC and the Neo-Assyrian Empire of 911–605 BC. The Assyrian Empire at its peak was the largest the world had yet seen. It ruled all of what is now Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Kuwait, Jordan, [[Egypt]], Cyprus, and Bahrain—with large swathes of Iran, Turkey, Armenia, Georgia, Sudan, and Arabia.

From the early 6th century BC onwards there were several Persian states that dominated the region, beginning with the non-Persian Neo-Babylonian Empire, then their successor the Achaemenid Empire also known as the first Persian Empire. In the 300s BC a gigachad guy called Alexander the Great decided that he wanted to rule the world and so he went ahead and conquered everything from Greece to Egypt all the way to the border of [[India]]. Sadly he died just as he was getting to the process of ruling his mega-empire and in a final moment of chadery he declared that his empire would belong "to the strongest" and within 5 minutes there were a bunch of successor empires like the Seleucids, Bactrians, Ptolemaic [[Egypt]] and others, and virtually all of them had a city called Alexandria but the one in Egypt mattered most.

After Alexander, the various Alexandrian successor states were dicking around with each other, not noticing the big roman-shaped shadow rising in the west. In 66–63 BC the Roman general Pompey got shit done and conquered much of the Middle East in one fell swoop. The Romans united the region into yet another giga-empire and integrated the region with most of Europe and North Africa in terms of politics and economics, not to mention the globalising effect of free transit for imperial citizens and dependents. Even areas not directly under Rome were strongly influenced by the Empire which was the most powerful political and cultural entity for centuries.

Though Romans brought much of their culture, law and customs to the region, the Greek culture and language continued to dominate as well, being another strong cultural factor. The region effectively became the Empire's "bread basket" as the key agricultural producer and as a somewhat of a consolation for egyptians who survived as a culture this long - Ægyptus became by far the most wealthy Roman province and a center of learning.

It's also worth mentioning that to the east of Roman Empire were also two major polities - the Parthian and the Kushan empires. The former represented a constant threat to Rome's eastern boundaries before transitioning into the Sassanid Empire due to internal strife while Kushan would do it's own thing. There is also evidence of Tang [[China]] doing trade with the region and even being aware of Rome. Lastly, starting from the 30s AD - Christianity would see a significant spread from Palestine/Judea though it would not advance much farther east than Euphrates-Tigris border in a significant manner.

After the fragmentation of the Western Roman Empire, the eastern half decided that it really liked the color purple and rebranded itself as...the Roman Empire (Byzantium being an anachronistic modern name but we will roll with it for the sake of convenience). Byzantium continued to trudge along, occupying the western portion of the region and even expanding to reconquer a respectable amount of the former Roman Empire in the 500s though from there it would decline in favour of other powers.

=== Medieval History (500 - 1000) ===
[[image:Bazaar.png|thumb|300px|right|You want it? It's yours sadiq, so long as you have enough gold!]]
In the 5-6th centuries the Middle East was separated into small, weak states loomed over by two vast empires - the Sasanian Empire of the Persians and the Byzantine Empire in Anatolia plus the Levant. The Byzantines and Sasanians dicked with each other as a neat reflection of the rivalry between the Roman and the Persian empires. The Byzantine-Sasanian rivalry was also seen through their respective cultures and religions. The Byzantines were the champions of Hellenism and Christianity while the Sasanians thought themselves heroes of ancient Iranian traditions and of the traditional Persian religion - Zoroastrianism.

Meanwhile, down south we have the Arabian Peninsula which largely was and continued to be a dustbowl of little importance. The nomadic Bedouin tribes dominated the Arabian deserts where they worshiped idols and were organised into small clans based on mutual kinship. There were scant cities and agriculture in Arabia except for Mecca and Medina (then called Yathrib) which were important hubs for trade between Africa and Eurasia with most citizens there being merchants - this all will become important VERY SOON.

Right around 620-30s there arose a new ofshoot of abrahamic religions - Islam, and it would become big, really big. The details on Islam can be found on the respective [[Mythology|page]] or on the other wiki, but the religion blew up FAST and in some 40 years after it's inception managed to conquer whole of Arabia, Persia and vast swathes of Byzantine empire. An interesting thing about Islam is that it's prophet Mohammad was also a military and political leader and while Jesus or Buddha left us general ethical and metaphysical messages, Mohammad was around for a bit longer and proscribed social and political tenets to the faith which gave rise to the concept of a Caliphate - a theocratic social polity that was to be the way to run things. The conquest stopped in the 750s as the new Caliphate ran out of steam and the usual fracturing between successors began after Muhammad was unalived, but Islam had by this time profiled itself as the pre-eminent socio-political and religious force in the Middle East under the various dynasties of the Caliphates.

Shortly after Islam became the dominant religion in Arabia, the Muslim conquests expanded ''very'' rapidly east and west, spreading across all of North Africa and even into southern Europe, where they claimed the entirety of Spain for centuries and besieged large parts of Italy and France. The Byzantines and Franks successfully halted further expansion, but Caliphate still claimed enough territory to rival and eventually supersede the Byzantines. The wealth and power that came with it ensured that the formerly backwater state of Arabia would remain a powerhouse for years to come.

The Arabian islamic vanguard would continue to dominate the newly conquered and islamised lands for the next 300 years. When Muhammad introduced Islam it had a the effect of nearly erasing the other various Middle Eastern cultures, although it also inspired advances in architecture, science, technology, and the formation of a distinct way of life giving it overall a mixed heritage. Islam also created the need for spectacularly built mosques to flex on their Abrahamic siblings which also created a unique form of architecture. Meanwhile, missionaries and warriors worked to forcibly spread the religion from Arabia to North and Sudanic Africa, South and Southeast Asia, and the Mesopotamia area. This created a potent mix of cultures, especially in Africa. Lastly, the "People of the Book" (Christians, Jews, and Zoroastrians) were allowed to live although in second class conditions. This courtesy wasn't extended to members of polytheist religions or Buddhism, with those folks being given the option of convert or die. This period would be disrupted by two events - the arrival of Seljuks/Turks and the Crusades.

=== The Crusades (1000 - 1300) ===
In the 1000's, the Persians (now rebranded as the Seljuks) started some shit with the Byzantines that ultimately ended with them sacking Constantinople. Between the eastern armies crossing the Hellespont and the blocking of pilgrimages into Jerusalem was the last straw for Christendom, and war were declared, whereupon thousands of ambitious princes, mercenaries, fugitives, and fanatics swarmed to Venice, got on boats, and proceeded to invade Jerusalem, intending to take back the Holy Land for Christendom from the Mohammedans.

Individual crusades were met with varied success; the first Crusade successfully caught the Seljuks offguard and led to the creation of the so-called Crusader States, which lasted for about a hundred years. Then an Arab warlord named Saladin who broke off from the Seljuks successfully rallied the people of Egypt and Syria to reclaim Jerusalem; following this, several more crusades were waged by Europe to retake the city, none of which were successful. Several centuries of war ensued, and while the invaders from Europe won the occasional dramatic victory, they were eventually forced away, although it did end any aspirations of Islam forcing its culture upon Europe.

And as the stalwart defenders of Arabia stood on the coast of Palestine, watching the sun set on their retreating enemies, they suddenly heard behind them the cheers and horse hooves of a million GODDAMN MONGOLIANS.

[[image:Constantinople-from-the-entrance-thomas-allom.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Lots of ottomans there, also some Ottomans. ]]

=== Ottoman Period (1300 - 1918) ===
The Ilkhanate hordes of Tulai ultimately were held out of Arabia, although the Seljuks fell to them completely. But as has been established in many other articles featuring the Mongols, they weren't very good at REMAINING Mongol once they ran out of things to put arrows in; in this case they discovered Islam and for once decided that some outsider's religion was actually their kind of thing, probably having to do with a similar bloodthirstiness towards "the other". What succeeded them was the Ottoman empire. Over the next 500 years the Ottomans would largely reunite all of the former Roman territories east of Cisalpine Gaul, into a massive, mostly-Islamic caliphate held together by the Turks, Greeks, and Egyptians that formed its foundation.

The power that held the Ottomans together was the [[Space Marines|Janissaries]]. A Janissary was a Christian male from the Balkan areas of the Empire, forcibly conscripted in youth and forced to convert to Islam (including getting circumcised, since the conscriptees would have been mostly Orthodox), and then subjected to a rigorous military training that made them one of the most elite fighting forces of their time. They were forbidden to marry before forty, but were paid a lifetime salary. Although a brutal system, the resulting army was exceptionally professional, impartial to the empire's many tribes and territories, and utterly loyal to the Sultanate. The net effect of the Janissaries were that the individual animosities of various sects were dampened under Ottoman rule, in favor of the [[Tau|greater greed]] of the Sultanate.

For most of it's life, the Ottoman empire wasn't a terribly bad place to live if you were a Muslim. There was relative peace and prosperity due to flourishing trade as it stood at the crossroads between the Mediterranean and the sea routes to the far east. There was religious freedom as long as taxes were paid (except for non-monotheists) and all the wealth and luxuries of the world to be found in their markets. Interestingly, there were THREE separate, government sanctioned court systems, specifically one system for muslims, another for christians & jews, and the trade courts which handled civil and commercial disputes. The good times ended however when the Europeans discovered that it was slightly cheaper to sail all the fuck way around Africa than to pay Ottoman taxes.

[[image:ModernMiddleEast.jpg|thumb|300px|right|We've come a long way, eh sadiq?]]

=== Modern History (1918 - 20XX) ===
After Ottoman Empire was defeated and WW1 ended, French and Brits decided to screw their own Middle Eastern allies (as usual) and set up their own colonial regimes and puppet states, this was all but codified in the secret Sykes-Picot Agreement which created a bunch of artificial states that would all but guarantee that the region north of Saudi Arabia would remain a socio-political quagmire for many decades to come. Most notable ones are French Syria, British Palestine and Kuwait, as well as marionette Kingdom of Iraq. Saudi Arabia was also formed in that time period from old Arabian peninsula states, while Oman and Yemen became British puppets. This status quo remained all the way up to 1950s, even during WWII (well, if you don't count joint Allied intervention to Iran to prevent it from joining the Axis and get a new safe way for a land-lease, as well as short Iraqi campaign to weed out pro-Hitler Golden Square Party).

During the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s, Syria and Egypt made moves towards independence since the Sick man of Bosphorus was fast dying of anachronism and lack of key reforms. Although the Kingdom of Egypt was technically "neutral" during World War II, Cairo soon became a major military base for the British and the country was occupied. In Palestine, a potent shitstorm was brewing as conflicting forces of Arab nationalism and Zionism created a situation the British could neither resolve nor gtfo from. The rise of Germany's Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party, who the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem told the idea of the Holocaust to, had created a new urgency in the Zionist quest to immigrate to Palestine and create a Jewish state.

The modern Middle East was primarily shaped by three factors - decolonisation as Europe just gave up on the overcomplicated region to deal with issues at home, the founding of the state of Israel with all the "FUN" that entailed, and the growing importance of this stinky slimy substance called oil. A further layer of complexity was added by the new [[Cold War]] order which saw the world's two remaining superpowers - the USA/NATO and USSR/Warsaw Pact take a keen interest in the region due to various opportunities to dick with each other and the region being the largest (then) known source of civilization-driving oil, with the U.S.A. supporting Israel's right to exist, and the Soviets supporting Palestine's wish to drive the Jews into the sea, figuring they could finish off the Jews and have one less religion they'd have to finish off themselves if they could conquer the Middle East.

== Middle Eastern Culture ==

In general, Middle Eastern and Central Asian cultures in the region can be split into Semitic (Hebrew, Syriac, Arab, etc), Iranic (Persian, Farsi, Tajik, Baloch, etc), and Turkic (Azeri, Kazakh, Uzbek, etc) alongside related/historically related groups on the outer edges of the region (such as the Caucasus-inhabiting Armenians or Georgians and the Urdu-Hindi groups in [[India]] in the former case or the Kushans, Scythians, Huns, & Mongols in the latter case). The long history of the region means many of the cultures and ethnic groups have long histories of contact and intermingling with each other with both peaceful and violent interactions with each other like in the European Balkans.

== Middle Eastern Religion, Gods and Mythology ==

More than any other region, the Middle East is indelibly linked to the history of monotheism. Greek and Egyptian polytheistic systems coexisted alongside Persian Zoroastrianism and the Abrahamic Hebrew and many other minor sects. All of which were subjugated in the successive conquests of Alexander, and then Rome behind him.

The Romans acted as a great plow, tilling the region and leaving all the minor tribes and faiths fertile for proselytization. And the winner of this great disruption was Abrahamism, which stomped out most of its competitors (ie, the Gnostics). Christianity rose in lockstep with opposition to Roman rule, and then Islam in turn followed it as a response to the void as the empire fell, and finally eastern orthodoxy as the Catholic church began to schism.

By 1100 AD, the following could be said:

* Islam commanded the majority of the region, with the Shia branch being strongest in old Persia and the Sunni being dominant pretty much everywhere else. The Ibadi moderate spinoffs from the Khawarij zeaots who attacked both sides were restricted to Oman with small pockets in the Sahara.
* Orthodox Christians (in Coptic, Assyrian and Greek flavors) were entrenched as minorities in the old Greek colonies north of Arabia, in Assyrian region (yes, the nation is still there, but is very small now) and in Egypt.
* Zoroastrianism and Judaism were entrenched as minorities all over, with some concentration in their respective homelands of Persia and Jerusalem respectively.
* Polytheism in the Middle East, both in its Egyptian and Hellenistic flavors, was extinct.

== Middle Eastern Magic ==

The Middle East has its fair share of supernatural folklore such as the Djinn, ghouls, Shedu, Magi, etc. In addition, no thanks to Alexander the Great’s conquest of the region, alongside the long rule of the Diadochi, the Silk Road, and the Mongol invasions, meant that the Central Asian and Middle Eastern region served as a melting pot for ideas to be exchanged and and syncretized. One example being the conflation of Heracles from the Greco-Batrian settlers with the guardian bodhisattva, Vajrapāṇi, in Buddhism. On the other hand, once monotheism became dominant in the Middle East proper, such theological exchanges lessoned out with the focus being on philosophical, economic, and scientific exchanges instead.

==Middle East Analogs in Fantasy==

* [[Araby]] (duh), [[Badlands]] (in geographical sense) and [[Darklands]] (culturally) in [[Warhammer Fantasy Battle]].
* [[Tallarn Desert Raiders]] Regiment of [[Imperial Guard]] in [[Warhammer 40,000]].
* [[Al-Qadim]] campaign setting from [[DnD]]
* Near Harad from [[Lord of the Rings]]
* Prince of Persia series of vidya
* Shaqqislam factions in [[Infinity]]
* The Imperium (both the Empires ruled by the Corrino and Atreides Dynasties) in [[Dune]]

[[Category: History]]

Middle East

2022-05-04T18:39:10Z

2607:FB90:6FF4:7A06:D087:A795:6215:797A: Technically the eastern Christians are split into Eastern, Monophysite, and Nestorian flavors. But yeah.

{{skubby}}

[[image:Middle_East.png|thumb|300px|right|A thousand sights, a thousand nights, a thousand years, a thousand tears...]]
{{topquote|They say in the Middle East - a pessimist is simply an optimist with experience.| Ehud Barak}}

The Middle East is a region that broadly spans from [[Egypt]] in the west to [[India]] in the east with northern and southern borders being the Black & Caspian sea and the Arabian Sea respectively. In the middle of all of this is over 6000 years of civilization, at least half-a-dozen awesome and significant cultures, more history than you can shake a...anything at really and also a fuckton of culture, wars and mineable stuff. The importance of the region and it's myriad of cultures has not lessened in the 20th and 21st centuries as the region continues to be, if not exactly influential, then influenced due to the resources and politics going on around it and within it.

Since it is Europe's closest neighbour, the region and it's societies have been interacting with the smorgasbord of Europe's cultures since at least the [[Bronze Age]] so there are a number of analogues of Middle Eastern societies in fantasy and even sci-fi. Dungeons and Dragons has [[Al-Qadim]], [[Lord of the Rings]] has Harad, Game of Thrones has Mereen and so on. And this is not even counting [[Video Games]] either.

== Middle Eastern History ==

The Middle East, being one of the ¨cradles of civilization¨ has metric gigatons of history under it's belt, more than even [[China]] so the sections below will be the broadest overviews by necessity. Still the history van be roughly divided into 4 periods with a number of sub-periods within each. So strap yourself in as we dive into the deep end of history.

=== Ancient History (4000 BC - 500 AD) ===
[[image:Babylon.png|thumb|300px|right|Between the time when the oceans drank Atlantis and the rise of the sons of Aryas, there was an age undreamed of...]]
After the period of various neolithic cultures discovering agriculture, the first human towns and city-states began to form (these could go back to as early as 9000-7000 BC as attested by Catal Huyuk and Jericho). The most prominent cities of this period were Uruk, Babillon, Elam and others. Two civilizations of note arose in this era around 3500 BC - Sumer and Akkad which are famous for their ziggurats (OG pyramids) and for laying the basis for much of civilization in the west since their stuff was picked up by Egyptians, then Greeks and so on. In about 2340 BC Sargon the Great united the various city-states in the south and thus founded the Akkadian dynasty - the world's first empire.

This set a kind of precedent for future powerful empires that would come to rule almost the entire Middle East. After Akkadians, of note are the Assyrian Empires of 1365–1076 BC and the Neo-Assyrian Empire of 911–605 BC. The Assyrian Empire at its peak was the largest the world had yet seen. It ruled all of what is now Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Kuwait, Jordan, [[Egypt]], Cyprus, and Bahrain—with large swathes of Iran, Turkey, Armenia, Georgia, Sudan, and Arabia.

From the early 6th century BC onwards there were several Persian states that dominated the region, beginning with the non-Persian Neo-Babylonian Empire, then their successor the Achaemenid Empire also known as the first Persian Empire. In the 300s BC a gigachad guy called Alexander the Great decided that he wanted to rule the world and so he went ahead and conquered everything from Greece to Egypt all the way to the border of [[India]]. Sadly he died just as he was getting to the process of ruling his mega-empire and in a final moment of chadery he declared that his empire would belong "to the strongest" and within 5 minutes there were a bunch of successor empires like the Seleucids, Bactrians, Ptolemaic [[Egypt]] and others, and virtually all of them had a city called Alexandria but the one in Egypt mattered most.

After Alexander, the various Alexandrian successor states were dicking around with each other, not noticing the big roman-shaped shadow rising in the west. In 66–63 BC the Roman general Pompey got shit done and conquered much of the Middle East in one fell swoop. The Romans united the region into yet another giga-empire and integrated the region with most of Europe and North Africa in terms of politics and economics, not to mention the globalising effect of free transit for imperial citizens and dependents. Even areas not directly under Rome were strongly influenced by the Empire which was the most powerful political and cultural entity for centuries.

Though Romans brought much of their culture, law and customs to the region, the Greek culture and language continued to dominate as well, being another strong cultural factor. The region effectively became the Empire's "bread basket" as the key agricultural producer and as a somewhat of a consolation for egyptians who survived as a culture this long - Ægyptus became by far the most wealthy Roman province and a center of learning.

It's also worth mentioning that to the east of Roman Empire were also two major polities - the Parthian and the Kushan empires. The former represented a constant threat to Rome's eastern boundaries before transitioning into the Sassanid Empire due to internal strife while Kushan would do it's own thing. There is also evidence of Tang [[China]] doing trade with the region and even being aware of Rome. Lastly, starting from the 30s AD - Christianity would see a significant spread from Palestine/Judea though it would not advance much farther east than Euphrates-Tigris border in a significant manner.

After the fragmentation of the Western Roman Empire, the eastern half decided that it really liked the color purple and rebranded itself as...the Roman Empire (Byzantium being an anachronistic modern name but we will roll with it for the sake of convenience). Byzantium continued to trudge along, occupying the western portion of the region and even expanding to reconquer a respectable amount of the former Roman Empire in the 500s though from there it would decline in favour of other powers.

=== Medieval History (500 - 1000) ===
[[image:Bazaar.png|thumb|300px|right|You want it? It's yours sadiq, so long as you have enough gold!]]
In the 5-6th centuries the Middle East was separated into small, weak states loomed over by two vast empires - the Sasanian Empire of the Persians and the Byzantine Empire in Anatolia plus the Levant. The Byzantines and Sasanians dicked with each other as a neat reflection of the rivalry between the Roman and the Persian empires. The Byzantine-Sasanian rivalry was also seen through their respective cultures and religions. The Byzantines were the champions of Hellenism and Christianity while the Sasanians thought themselves heroes of ancient Iranian traditions and of the traditional Persian religion - Zoroastrianism.

Meanwhile, down south we have the Arabian Peninsula which largely was and continued to be a dustbowl of little importance. The nomadic Bedouin tribes dominated the Arabian deserts where they worshiped idols and were organised into small clans based on mutual kinship. There were scant cities and agriculture in Arabia except for Mecca and Medina (then called Yathrib) which were important hubs for trade between Africa and Eurasia with most citizens there being merchants - this all will become important VERY SOON.

Right around 620-30s there arose a new ofshoot of abrahamic religions - Islam, and it would become big, really big. The details on Islam can be found on the respective [[Mythology|page]] or on the other wiki, but the religion blew up FAST and in some 40 years after it's inception managed to conquer whole of Arabia, Persia and vast swathes of Byzantine empire. An interesting thing about Islam is that it's prophet Mohammad was also a military and political leader and while Jesus or Buddha left us general ethical and metaphysical messages, Mohammad was around for a bit longer and proscribed social and political tenets to the faith which gave rise to the concept of a Caliphate - a theocratic social polity that was to be the way to run things. The conquest stopped in the 750s as the new Caliphate ran out of steam and the usual fracturing between successors began after Muhammad was unalived, but Islam had by this time profiled itself as the pre-eminent socio-political and religious force in the Middle East under the various dynasties of the Caliphates.

Shortly after Islam became the dominant religion in Arabia, the Muslim conquests expanded ''very'' rapidly east and west, spreading across all of North Africa and even into southern Europe, where they claimed the entirety of Spain for centuries and besieged large parts of Italy and France. The Byzantines and Franks successfully halted further expansion, but Caliphate still claimed enough territory to rival and eventually supersede the Byzantines. The wealth and power that came with it ensured that the formerly backwater state of Arabia would remain a powerhouse for years to come.

The Arabian islamic vanguard would continue to dominate the newly conquered and islamised lands for the next 300 years. When Muhammad introduced Islam it had a the effect of nearly erasing the other various Middle Eastern cultures, although it also inspired advances in architecture, science, technology, and the formation of a distinct way of life giving it overall a mixed heritage. Islam also created the need for spectacularly built mosques to flex on their Abrahamic siblings which also created a unique form of architecture. Meanwhile, missionaries and warriors worked to forcibly spread the religion from Arabia to North and Sudanic Africa, South and Southeast Asia, and the Mesopotamia area. This created a potent mix of cultures, especially in Africa. Lastly, the "People of the Book" (Christians, Jews, and Zoroastrians) were allowed to live although in second class conditions. This courtesy wasn't extended to members of polytheist religions or Buddhism, with those folks being given the option of convert or die. This period would be disrupted by two events - the arrival of Seljuks/Turks and the Crusades.

=== The Crusades (1000 - 1300) ===
In the 1000's, the Persians (now rebranded as the Seljuks) started some shit with the Byzantines that ultimately ended with them sacking Constantinople. Between the eastern armies crossing the Hellespont and the blocking of pilgrimages into Jerusalem was the last straw for Christendom, and war were declared, whereupon thousands of ambitious princes, mercenaries, fugitives, and fanatics swarmed to Venice, got on boats, and proceeded to invade Jerusalem, intending to take back the Holy Land for Christendom from the Mohammedans.

Individual crusades were met with varied success; the first Crusade successfully caught the Seljuks offguard and led to the creation of the so-called Crusader States, which lasted for about a hundred years. Then an Arab warlord named Saladin who broke off from the Seljuks successfully rallied the people of Egypt and Syria to reclaim Jerusalem; following this, several more crusades were waged by Europe to retake the city, none of which were successful. Several centuries of war ensued, and while the invaders from Europe won the occasional dramatic victory, they were eventually forced away, although it did end any aspirations of Islam forcing its culture upon Europe.

And as the stalwart defenders of Arabia stood on the coast of Palestine, watching the sun set on their retreating enemies, they suddenly heard behind them the cheers and horse hooves of a million GODDAMN MONGOLIANS.

[[image:Constantinople-from-the-entrance-thomas-allom.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Lots of ottomans there, also some Ottomans. ]]

=== Ottoman Period (1300 - 1918) ===
The Ilkhanate hordes of Tulai ultimately were held out of Arabia, although the Seljuks fell to them completely. But as has been established in many other articles featuring the Mongols, they weren't very good at REMAINING Mongol once they ran out of things to put arrows in; in this case they discovered Islam and for once decided that some outsider's religion was actually their kind of thing, probably having to do with a similar bloodthirstiness towards "the other". What succeeded them was the Ottoman empire. Over the next 500 years the Ottomans would largely reunite all of the former Roman territories east of Cisalpine Gaul, into a massive, mostly-Islamic caliphate held together by the Turks, Greeks, and Egyptians that formed its foundation.

The power that held the Ottomans together was the [[Space Marines|Janissaries]]. A Janissary was a Christian male from the Balkan areas of the Empire, forcibly conscripted in youth and forced to convert to Islam (including getting circumcised, since the conscriptees would have been mostly Orthodox), and then subjected to a rigorous military training that made them one of the most elite fighting forces of their time. They were forbidden to marry before forty, but were paid a lifetime salary. Although a brutal system, the resulting army was exceptionally professional, impartial to the empire's many tribes and territories, and utterly loyal to the Sultanate. The net effect of the Janissaries were that the individual animosities of various sects were dampened under Ottoman rule, in favor of the [[Tau|greater greed]] of the Sultanate.

For most of it's life, the Ottoman empire wasn't a terribly bad place to live if you were a Muslim. There was relative peace and prosperity due to flourishing trade as it stood at the crossroads between the Mediterranean and the sea routes to the far east. There was religious freedom as long as taxes were paid (except for non-monotheists) and all the wealth and luxuries of the world to be found in their markets. Interestingly, there were THREE separate, government sanctioned court systems, specifically one system for muslims, another for christians & jews, and the trade courts which handled civil and commercial disputes. The good times ended however when the Europeans discovered that it was slightly cheaper to sail all the fuck way around Africa than to pay Ottoman taxes.

[[image:ModernMiddleEast.jpg|thumb|300px|right|We've come a long way, eh sadiq?]]

=== Modern History (1918 - 20XX) ===
After Ottoman Empire was defeated and WW1 ended, French and Brits decided to screw their own Middle Eastern allies (as usual) and set up their own colonial regimes and puppet states, this was all but codified in the secret Sykes-Picot Agreement which created a bunch of artificial states that would all but guarantee that the region north of Saudi Arabia would remain a socio-political quagmire for many decades to come. Most notable ones are French Syria, British Palestine and Kuwait, as well as marionette Kingdom of Iraq. Saudi Arabia was also formed in that time period from old Arabian peninsula states, while Oman and Yemen became British puppets. This status quo remained all the way up to 1950s, even during WWII (well, if you don't count joint Allied intervention to Iran to prevent it from joining the Axis and get a new safe way for a land-lease, as well as short Iraqi campaign to weed out pro-Hitler Golden Square Party).

During the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s, Syria and Egypt made moves towards independence since the Sick man of Bosphorus was fast dying of anachronism and lack of key reforms. Although the Kingdom of Egypt was technically "neutral" during World War II, Cairo soon became a major military base for the British and the country was occupied. In Palestine, a potent shitstorm was brewing as conflicting forces of Arab nationalism and Zionism created a situation the British could neither resolve nor gtfo from. The rise of Germany's Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party, who the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem told the idea of the Holocaust to, had created a new urgency in the Zionist quest to immigrate to Palestine and create a Jewish state.

The modern Middle East was primarily shaped by three factors - decolonisation as Europe just gave up on the overcomplicated region to deal with issues at home, the founding of the state of Israel with all the "FUN" that entailed, and the growing importance of this stinky slimy substance called oil. A further layer of complexity was added by the new [[Cold War]] order which saw the world's two remaining superpowers - the USA/NATO and USSR/Warsaw Pact take a keen interest in the region due to various opportunities to dick with each other and the region being the largest (then) known source of civilization-driving oil, with the U.S.A. supporting Israel's right to exist, and the Soviets supporting Palestine's wish to drive the Jews into the sea, figuring they could finish off the Jews and have one less religion they'd have to finish off themselves if they could conquer the Middle East.

== Middle Eastern Culture ==

In general, Middle Eastern and Central Asian cultures in the region can be split into Semitic (Hebrew, Syriac, Arab, etc), Iranic (Persian, Farsi, Tajik, Baloch, etc), and Turkic (Azeri, Kazakh, Uzbek, etc) alongside related/historically related groups on the outer edges of the region (such as the Caucasus-inhabiting Armenians or Georgians and the Urdu-Hindi groups in [[India]] in the former case or the Kushans, Scythians, Huns, & Mongols in the latter case). The long history of the region means many of the cultures and ethnic groups have long histories of with each other with both peaceful and violent interactions with each other like in the European Balkans.

== Middle Eastern Religion, Gods and Mythology ==

More than any other region, the Middle East is indelibly linked to the history of monotheism. Greek and Egyptian polytheistic systems coexisted alongside Persian Zoroastrianism and the Abrahamic Hebrew and many other minor sects. All of which were subjugated in the successive conquests of Alexander, and then Rome behind him.

The Romans acted as a great plow, tilling the region and leaving all the minor tribes and faiths fertile for proselytization. And the winner of this great disruption was Abrahamism, which stomped out most of its competitors (ie, the Gnostics). Christianity rose in lockstep with opposition to Roman rule, and then Islam in turn followed it as a response to the void as the empire fell, and finally eastern orthodoxy as the Catholic church began to schism.

By 1100 AD, the following could be said:

* Islam commanded the majority of the region, with the Shia branch being strongest in old Persia and the Sunni being dominant pretty much everywhere else. The Ibadi moderate spinoffs from the Khawarij zeaots who attacked both sides were restricted to Oman with small pockets in the Sahara.
* Orthodox Christians (in Coptic, Assyrian and Greek flavors) were entrenched as minorities in the old Greek colonies north of Arabia, in Assyrian region (yes, the nation is still there, but is very small now) and in Egypt.
* Zoroastrianism and Judaism were entrenched as minorities all over, with some concentration in their respective homelands of Persia and Jerusalem respectively.
* Polytheism in the Middle East, both in its Egyptian and Hellenistic flavors, was extinct.

== Middle Eastern Magic ==

The Middle East has its fair share of supernatural folklore such as the Djinn, ghouls, Shedu, Magi, etc. In addition, no thanks to Alexander the Great’s conquest of the region, alongside the long rule of the Diadochi, the Silk Road, and the Mongol invasions, meant that the Central Asian and Middle Eastern region served as a melting pot for ideas to be exchanged and and syncretized. One example being the conflation of Heracles from the Greco-Batrian settlers with the guardian bodhisattva, Vajrapāṇi, in Buddhism. On the other hand, once monotheism became dominant in the Middle East proper, such theological exchanges lessoned out with the focus being on philosophical, economic, and scientific exchanges instead.

==Middle East Analogs in Fantasy==

* [[Araby]] (duh), [[Badlands]] (in geographical sense) and [[Darklands]] (culturally) in [[Warhammer Fantasy Battle]].
* [[Tallarn Desert Raiders]] Regiment of [[Imperial Guard]] in [[Warhammer 40,000]].
* [[Al-Qadim]] campaign setting from [[DnD]]
* Near Harad from [[Lord of the Rings]]
* Prince of Persia series of vidya
* Shaqqislam factions in [[Infinity]]
* The Imperium (both the Empires ruled by the Corrino and Atreides Dynasties) in [[Dune]]

[[Category: History]]

Middle East

2022-05-04T18:37:29Z

2607:FB90:6FF4:7A06:D087:A795:6215:797A: /* Middle East Analogs in Fantasy */

{{skubby}}

[[image:Middle_East.png|thumb|300px|right|A thousand sights, a thousand nights, a thousand years, a thousand tears...]]
{{topquote|They say in the Middle East - a pessimist is simply an optimist with experience.| Ehud Barak}}

The Middle East is a region that broadly spans from [[Egypt]] in the west to [[India]] in the east with northern and southern borders being the Black & Caspian sea and the Arabian Sea respectively. In the middle of all of this is over 6000 years of civilization, at least half-a-dozen awesome and significant cultures, more history than you can shake a...anything at really and also a fuckton of culture, wars and mineable stuff. The importance of the region and it's myriad of cultures has not lessened in the 20th and 21st centuries as the region continues to be, if not exactly influential, then influenced due to the resources and politics going on around it and within it.

Since it is Europe's closest neighbour, the region and it's societies have been interacting with the smorgasbord of Europe's cultures since at least the [[Bronze Age]] so there are a number of analogues of Middle Eastern societies in fantasy and even sci-fi. Dungeons and Dragons has [[Al-Qadim]], [[Lord of the Rings]] has Harad, Game of Thrones has Mereen and so on. And this is not even counting [[Video Games]] either.

== Middle Eastern History ==

The Middle East, being one of the ¨cradles of civilization¨ has metric gigatons of history under it's belt, more than even [[China]] so the sections below will be the broadest overviews by necessity. Still the history van be roughly divided into 4 periods with a number of sub-periods within each. So strap yourself in as we dive into the deep end of history.

=== Ancient History (4000 BC - 500 AD) ===
[[image:Babylon.png|thumb|300px|right|Between the time when the oceans drank Atlantis and the rise of the sons of Aryas, there was an age undreamed of...]]
After the period of various neolithic cultures discovering agriculture, the first human towns and city-states began to form (these could go back to as early as 9000-7000 BC as attested by Catal Huyuk and Jericho). The most prominent cities of this period were Uruk, Babillon, Elam and others. Two civilizations of note arose in this era around 3500 BC - Sumer and Akkad which are famous for their ziggurats (OG pyramids) and for laying the basis for much of civilization in the west since their stuff was picked up by Egyptians, then Greeks and so on. In about 2340 BC Sargon the Great united the various city-states in the south and thus founded the Akkadian dynasty - the world's first empire.

This set a kind of precedent for future powerful empires that would come to rule almost the entire Middle East. After Akkadians, of note are the Assyrian Empires of 1365–1076 BC and the Neo-Assyrian Empire of 911–605 BC. The Assyrian Empire at its peak was the largest the world had yet seen. It ruled all of what is now Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Kuwait, Jordan, [[Egypt]], Cyprus, and Bahrain—with large swathes of Iran, Turkey, Armenia, Georgia, Sudan, and Arabia.

From the early 6th century BC onwards there were several Persian states that dominated the region, beginning with the non-Persian Neo-Babylonian Empire, then their successor the Achaemenid Empire also known as the first Persian Empire. In the 300s BC a gigachad guy called Alexander the Great decided that he wanted to rule the world and so he went ahead and conquered everything from Greece to Egypt all the way to the border of [[India]]. Sadly he died just as he was getting to the process of ruling his mega-empire and in a final moment of chadery he declared that his empire would belong "to the strongest" and within 5 minutes there were a bunch of successor empires like the Seleucids, Bactrians, Ptolemaic [[Egypt]] and others, and virtually all of them had a city called Alexandria but the one in Egypt mattered most.

After Alexander, the various Alexandrian successor states were dicking around with each other, not noticing the big roman-shaped shadow rising in the west. In 66–63 BC the Roman general Pompey got shit done and conquered much of the Middle East in one fell swoop. The Romans united the region into yet another giga-empire and integrated the region with most of Europe and North Africa in terms of politics and economics, not to mention the globalising effect of free transit for imperial citizens and dependents. Even areas not directly under Rome were strongly influenced by the Empire which was the most powerful political and cultural entity for centuries.

Though Romans brought much of their culture, law and customs to the region, the Greek culture and language continued to dominate as well, being another strong cultural factor. The region effectively became the Empire's "bread basket" as the key agricultural producer and as a somewhat of a consolation for egyptians who survived as a culture this long - Ægyptus became by far the most wealthy Roman province and a center of learning.

It's also worth mentioning that to the east of Roman Empire were also two major polities - the Parthian and the Kushan empires. The former represented a constant threat to Rome's eastern boundaries before transitioning into the Sassanid Empire due to internal strife while Kushan would do it's own thing. There is also evidence of Tang [[China]] doing trade with the region and even being aware of Rome. Lastly, starting from the 30s AD - Christianity would see a significant spread from Palestine/Judea though it would not advance much farther east than Euphrates-Tigris border in a significant manner.

After the fragmentation of the Western Roman Empire, the eastern half decided that it really liked the color purple and rebranded itself as...the Roman Empire (Byzantium being an anachronistic modern name but we will roll with it for the sake of convenience). Byzantium continued to trudge along, occupying the western portion of the region and even expanding to reconquer a respectable amount of the former Roman Empire in the 500s though from there it would decline in favour of other powers.

=== Medieval History (500 - 1000) ===
[[image:Bazaar.png|thumb|300px|right|You want it? It's yours sadiq, so long as you have enough gold!]]
In the 5-6th centuries the Middle East was separated into small, weak states loomed over by two vast empires - the Sasanian Empire of the Persians and the Byzantine Empire in Anatolia plus the Levant. The Byzantines and Sasanians dicked with each other as a neat reflection of the rivalry between the Roman and the Persian empires. The Byzantine-Sasanian rivalry was also seen through their respective cultures and religions. The Byzantines were the champions of Hellenism and Christianity while the Sasanians thought themselves heroes of ancient Iranian traditions and of the traditional Persian religion - Zoroastrianism.

Meanwhile, down south we have the Arabian Peninsula which largely was and continued to be a dustbowl of little importance. The nomadic Bedouin tribes dominated the Arabian deserts where they worshiped idols and were organised into small clans based on mutual kinship. There were scant cities and agriculture in Arabia except for Mecca and Medina (then called Yathrib) which were important hubs for trade between Africa and Eurasia with most citizens there being merchants - this all will become important VERY SOON.

Right around 620-30s there arose a new ofshoot of abrahamic religions - Islam, and it would become big, really big. The details on Islam can be found on the respective [[Mythology|page]] or on the other wiki, but the religion blew up FAST and in some 40 years after it's inception managed to conquer whole of Arabia, Persia and vast swathes of Byzantine empire. An interesting thing about Islam is that it's prophet Mohammad was also a military and political leader and while Jesus or Buddha left us general ethical and metaphysical messages, Mohammad was around for a bit longer and proscribed social and political tenets to the faith which gave rise to the concept of a Caliphate - a theocratic social polity that was to be the way to run things. The conquest stopped in the 750s as the new Caliphate ran out of steam and the usual fracturing between successors began after Muhammad was unalived, but Islam had by this time profiled itself as the pre-eminent socio-political and religious force in the Middle East under the various dynasties of the Caliphates.

Shortly after Islam became the dominant religion in Arabia, the Muslim conquests expanded ''very'' rapidly east and west, spreading across all of North Africa and even into southern Europe, where they claimed the entirety of Spain for centuries and besieged large parts of Italy and France. The Byzantines and Franks successfully halted further expansion, but Caliphate still claimed enough territory to rival and eventually supersede the Byzantines. The wealth and power that came with it ensured that the formerly backwater state of Arabia would remain a powerhouse for years to come.

The Arabian islamic vanguard would continue to dominate the newly conquered and islamised lands for the next 300 years. When Muhammad introduced Islam it had a the effect of nearly erasing the other various Middle Eastern cultures, although it also inspired advances in architecture, science, technology, and the formation of a distinct way of life giving it overall a mixed heritage. Islam also created the need for spectacularly built mosques to flex on their Abrahamic siblings which also created a unique form of architecture. Meanwhile, missionaries and warriors worked to forcibly spread the religion from Arabia to North and Sudanic Africa, South and Southeast Asia, and the Mesopotamia area. This created a potent mix of cultures, especially in Africa. Lastly, the "People of the Book" (Christians, Jews, and Zoroastrians) were allowed to live although in second class conditions. This courtesy wasn't extended to members of polytheist religions or Buddhism, with those folks being given the option of convert or die. This period would be disrupted by two events - the arrival of Seljuks/Turks and the Crusades.

=== The Crusades (1000 - 1300) ===
In the 1000's, the Persians (now rebranded as the Seljuks) started some shit with the Byzantines that ultimately ended with them sacking Constantinople. Between the eastern armies crossing the Hellespont and the blocking of pilgrimages into Jerusalem was the last straw for Christendom, and war were declared, whereupon thousands of ambitious princes, mercenaries, fugitives, and fanatics swarmed to Venice, got on boats, and proceeded to invade Jerusalem, intending to take back the Holy Land for Christendom from the Mohammedans.

Individual crusades were met with varied success; the first Crusade successfully caught the Seljuks offguard and led to the creation of the so-called Crusader States, which lasted for about a hundred years. Then an Arab warlord named Saladin who broke off from the Seljuks successfully rallied the people of Egypt and Syria to reclaim Jerusalem; following this, several more crusades were waged by Europe to retake the city, none of which were successful. Several centuries of war ensued, and while the invaders from Europe won the occasional dramatic victory, they were eventually forced away, although it did end any aspirations of Islam forcing its culture upon Europe.

And as the stalwart defenders of Arabia stood on the coast of Palestine, watching the sun set on their retreating enemies, they suddenly heard behind them the cheers and horse hooves of a million GODDAMN MONGOLIANS.

[[image:Constantinople-from-the-entrance-thomas-allom.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Lots of ottomans there, also some Ottomans. ]]

=== Ottoman Period (1300 - 1918) ===
The Ilkhanate hordes of Tulai ultimately were held out of Arabia, although the Seljuks fell to them completely. But as has been established in many other articles featuring the Mongols, they weren't very good at REMAINING Mongol once they ran out of things to put arrows in; in this case they discovered Islam and for once decided that some outsider's religion was actually their kind of thing, probably having to do with a similar bloodthirstiness towards "the other". What succeeded them was the Ottoman empire. Over the next 500 years the Ottomans would largely reunite all of the former Roman territories east of Cisalpine Gaul, into a massive, mostly-Islamic caliphate held together by the Turks, Greeks, and Egyptians that formed its foundation.

The power that held the Ottomans together was the [[Space Marines|Janissaries]]. A Janissary was a Christian male from the Balkan areas of the Empire, forcibly conscripted in youth and forced to convert to Islam (including getting circumcised, since the conscriptees would have been mostly Orthodox), and then subjected to a rigorous military training that made them one of the most elite fighting forces of their time. They were forbidden to marry before forty, but were paid a lifetime salary. Although a brutal system, the resulting army was exceptionally professional, impartial to the empire's many tribes and territories, and utterly loyal to the Sultanate. The net effect of the Janissaries were that the individual animosities of various sects were dampened under Ottoman rule, in favor of the [[Tau|greater greed]] of the Sultanate.

For most of it's life, the Ottoman empire wasn't a terribly bad place to live if you were a Muslim. There was relative peace and prosperity due to flourishing trade as it stood at the crossroads between the Mediterranean and the sea routes to the far east. There was religious freedom as long as taxes were paid (except for non-monotheists) and all the wealth and luxuries of the world to be found in their markets. Interestingly, there were THREE separate, government sanctioned court systems, specifically one system for muslims, another for christians & jews, and the trade courts which handled civil and commercial disputes. The good times ended however when the Europeans discovered that it was slightly cheaper to sail all the fuck way around Africa than to pay Ottoman taxes.

[[image:ModernMiddleEast.jpg|thumb|300px|right|We've come a long way, eh sadiq?]]

=== Modern History (1918 - 20XX) ===
After Ottoman Empire was defeated and WW1 ended, French and Brits decided to screw their own Middle Eastern allies (as usual) and set up their own colonial regimes and puppet states, this was all but codified in the secret Sykes-Picot Agreement which created a bunch of artificial states that would all but guarantee that the region north of Saudi Arabia would remain a socio-political quagmire for many decades to come. Most notable ones are French Syria, British Palestine and Kuwait, as well as marionette Kingdom of Iraq. Saudi Arabia was also formed in that time period from old Arabian peninsula states, while Oman and Yemen became British puppets. This status quo remained all the way up to 1950s, even during WWII (well, if you don't count joint Allied intervention to Iran to prevent it from joining the Axis and get a new safe way for a land-lease, as well as short Iraqi campaign to weed out pro-Hitler Golden Square Party).

During the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s, Syria and Egypt made moves towards independence since the Sick man of Bosphorus was fast dying of anachronism and lack of key reforms. Although the Kingdom of Egypt was technically "neutral" during World War II, Cairo soon became a major military base for the British and the country was occupied. In Palestine, a potent shitstorm was brewing as conflicting forces of Arab nationalism and Zionism created a situation the British could neither resolve nor gtfo from. The rise of Germany's Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party, who the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem told the idea of the Holocaust to, had created a new urgency in the Zionist quest to immigrate to Palestine and create a Jewish state.

The modern Middle East was primarily shaped by three factors - decolonisation as Europe just gave up on the overcomplicated region to deal with issues at home, the founding of the state of Israel with all the "FUN" that entailed, and the growing importance of this stinky slimy substance called oil. A further layer of complexity was added by the new [[Cold War]] order which saw the world's two remaining superpowers - the USA/NATO and USSR/Warsaw Pact take a keen interest in the region due to various opportunities to dick with each other and the region being the largest (then) known source of civilization-driving oil, with the U.S.A. supporting Israel's right to exist, and the Soviets supporting Palestine's wish to drive the Jews into the sea, figuring they could finish off the Jews and have one less religion they'd have to finish off themselves if they could conquer the Middle East.

== Middle Eastern Culture ==

In general, Middle Eastern and Central Asian cultures in the region can be split into Semitic (Hebrew, Syriac, Arab, etc), Iranic (Persian, Farsi, Tajik, Baloch, etc), and Turkic (Azeri, Kazakh, Uzbek, etc) alongside related/historically related groups on the outer edges of the region (such as the Caucasus-inhabiting Armenians or Georgians and the Urdu-Hindi groups in [[India]] in the former case or the Kushans, Scythians, Huns, & Mongols in the latter case). The long history of the region means many of the cultures and ethnic groups have long histories of with each other with both peaceful and violent interactions with each other like in the European Balkans.

== Middle Eastern Religion, Gods and Mythology ==

More than any other region, the Middle East is indelibly linked to the history of monotheism. Greek and Egyptian polytheistic systems coexisted alongside Persian Zoroastrianism and the Abrahamic Hebrew and many other minor sects. All of which were subjugated in the successive conquests of Alexander, and then Rome behind him.

The Romans acted as a great plow, tilling the region and leaving all the minor tribes and faiths fertile for proselytization. And the winner of this great disruption was Abrahamism, which stomped out most of its competitors (ie, the Gnostics). Christianity rose in lockstep with opposition to Roman rule, and then Islam in turn followed it as a response to the void as the empire fell, and finally eastern orthodoxy as the Catholic church began to schism.

By 1100 AD, the following could be said:

* Islam commanded the majority of the region, with the Shia branch being strongest in old Persia and the Sunni being dominant pretty much everywhere else. The Ibadi moderate spinoffs from the Khawarij zeaots who attacked both sides were restricted to Oman with small pockets in the Sahara.
* Eastern Orthodox Christians (in Coptic, Assyrian and Greek flavors) were entrenched as minorities in the old Greek colonies north of Arabia, in Assyrian region (yes, the nation is still there, but is very small now) and in Egypt.
* Zoroastrianism and Judaism were entrenched as minorities all over, with some concentration in their respective homelands of Persia and Jerusalem respectively.
* Polytheism in the Middle East, both in its Egyptian and Hellenistic flavors, was extinct.

== Middle Eastern Magic ==

The Middle East has its fair share of supernatural folklore such as the Djinn, ghouls, Shedu, Magi, etc. In addition, no thanks to Alexander the Great’s conquest of the region, alongside the long rule of the Diadochi, the Silk Road, and the Mongol invasions, meant that the Central Asian and Middle Eastern region served as a melting pot for ideas to be exchanged and and syncretized. One example being the conflation of Heracles from the Greco-Batrian settlers with the guardian bodhisattva, Vajrapāṇi, in Buddhism. On the other hand, once monotheism became dominant in the Middle East proper, such theological exchanges lessoned out with the focus being on philosophical, economic, and scientific exchanges instead.

==Middle East Analogs in Fantasy==

* [[Araby]] (duh), [[Badlands]] (in geographical sense) and [[Darklands]] (culturally) in [[Warhammer Fantasy Battle]].
* [[Tallarn Desert Raiders]] Regiment of [[Imperial Guard]] in [[Warhammer 40,000]].
* [[Al-Qadim]] campaign setting from [[DnD]]
* Near Harad from [[Lord of the Rings]]
* Prince of Persia series of vidya
* Shaqqislam factions in [[Infinity]]
* The Imperium (both the Empires ruled by the Corrino and Atreides Dynasties) in [[Dune]]

[[Category: History]]

Middle East

2022-05-04T18:37:11Z

2607:FB90:6FF4:7A06:D087:A795:6215:797A: /* Middle East Analogs in Fantasy */

{{skubby}}

[[image:Middle_East.png|thumb|300px|right|A thousand sights, a thousand nights, a thousand years, a thousand tears...]]
{{topquote|They say in the Middle East - a pessimist is simply an optimist with experience.| Ehud Barak}}

The Middle East is a region that broadly spans from [[Egypt]] in the west to [[India]] in the east with northern and southern borders being the Black & Caspian sea and the Arabian Sea respectively. In the middle of all of this is over 6000 years of civilization, at least half-a-dozen awesome and significant cultures, more history than you can shake a...anything at really and also a fuckton of culture, wars and mineable stuff. The importance of the region and it's myriad of cultures has not lessened in the 20th and 21st centuries as the region continues to be, if not exactly influential, then influenced due to the resources and politics going on around it and within it.

Since it is Europe's closest neighbour, the region and it's societies have been interacting with the smorgasbord of Europe's cultures since at least the [[Bronze Age]] so there are a number of analogues of Middle Eastern societies in fantasy and even sci-fi. Dungeons and Dragons has [[Al-Qadim]], [[Lord of the Rings]] has Harad, Game of Thrones has Mereen and so on. And this is not even counting [[Video Games]] either.

== Middle Eastern History ==

The Middle East, being one of the ¨cradles of civilization¨ has metric gigatons of history under it's belt, more than even [[China]] so the sections below will be the broadest overviews by necessity. Still the history van be roughly divided into 4 periods with a number of sub-periods within each. So strap yourself in as we dive into the deep end of history.

=== Ancient History (4000 BC - 500 AD) ===
[[image:Babylon.png|thumb|300px|right|Between the time when the oceans drank Atlantis and the rise of the sons of Aryas, there was an age undreamed of...]]
After the period of various neolithic cultures discovering agriculture, the first human towns and city-states began to form (these could go back to as early as 9000-7000 BC as attested by Catal Huyuk and Jericho). The most prominent cities of this period were Uruk, Babillon, Elam and others. Two civilizations of note arose in this era around 3500 BC - Sumer and Akkad which are famous for their ziggurats (OG pyramids) and for laying the basis for much of civilization in the west since their stuff was picked up by Egyptians, then Greeks and so on. In about 2340 BC Sargon the Great united the various city-states in the south and thus founded the Akkadian dynasty - the world's first empire.

This set a kind of precedent for future powerful empires that would come to rule almost the entire Middle East. After Akkadians, of note are the Assyrian Empires of 1365–1076 BC and the Neo-Assyrian Empire of 911–605 BC. The Assyrian Empire at its peak was the largest the world had yet seen. It ruled all of what is now Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Kuwait, Jordan, [[Egypt]], Cyprus, and Bahrain—with large swathes of Iran, Turkey, Armenia, Georgia, Sudan, and Arabia.

From the early 6th century BC onwards there were several Persian states that dominated the region, beginning with the non-Persian Neo-Babylonian Empire, then their successor the Achaemenid Empire also known as the first Persian Empire. In the 300s BC a gigachad guy called Alexander the Great decided that he wanted to rule the world and so he went ahead and conquered everything from Greece to Egypt all the way to the border of [[India]]. Sadly he died just as he was getting to the process of ruling his mega-empire and in a final moment of chadery he declared that his empire would belong "to the strongest" and within 5 minutes there were a bunch of successor empires like the Seleucids, Bactrians, Ptolemaic [[Egypt]] and others, and virtually all of them had a city called Alexandria but the one in Egypt mattered most.

After Alexander, the various Alexandrian successor states were dicking around with each other, not noticing the big roman-shaped shadow rising in the west. In 66–63 BC the Roman general Pompey got shit done and conquered much of the Middle East in one fell swoop. The Romans united the region into yet another giga-empire and integrated the region with most of Europe and North Africa in terms of politics and economics, not to mention the globalising effect of free transit for imperial citizens and dependents. Even areas not directly under Rome were strongly influenced by the Empire which was the most powerful political and cultural entity for centuries.

Though Romans brought much of their culture, law and customs to the region, the Greek culture and language continued to dominate as well, being another strong cultural factor. The region effectively became the Empire's "bread basket" as the key agricultural producer and as a somewhat of a consolation for egyptians who survived as a culture this long - Ægyptus became by far the most wealthy Roman province and a center of learning.

It's also worth mentioning that to the east of Roman Empire were also two major polities - the Parthian and the Kushan empires. The former represented a constant threat to Rome's eastern boundaries before transitioning into the Sassanid Empire due to internal strife while Kushan would do it's own thing. There is also evidence of Tang [[China]] doing trade with the region and even being aware of Rome. Lastly, starting from the 30s AD - Christianity would see a significant spread from Palestine/Judea though it would not advance much farther east than Euphrates-Tigris border in a significant manner.

After the fragmentation of the Western Roman Empire, the eastern half decided that it really liked the color purple and rebranded itself as...the Roman Empire (Byzantium being an anachronistic modern name but we will roll with it for the sake of convenience). Byzantium continued to trudge along, occupying the western portion of the region and even expanding to reconquer a respectable amount of the former Roman Empire in the 500s though from there it would decline in favour of other powers.

=== Medieval History (500 - 1000) ===
[[image:Bazaar.png|thumb|300px|right|You want it? It's yours sadiq, so long as you have enough gold!]]
In the 5-6th centuries the Middle East was separated into small, weak states loomed over by two vast empires - the Sasanian Empire of the Persians and the Byzantine Empire in Anatolia plus the Levant. The Byzantines and Sasanians dicked with each other as a neat reflection of the rivalry between the Roman and the Persian empires. The Byzantine-Sasanian rivalry was also seen through their respective cultures and religions. The Byzantines were the champions of Hellenism and Christianity while the Sasanians thought themselves heroes of ancient Iranian traditions and of the traditional Persian religion - Zoroastrianism.

Meanwhile, down south we have the Arabian Peninsula which largely was and continued to be a dustbowl of little importance. The nomadic Bedouin tribes dominated the Arabian deserts where they worshiped idols and were organised into small clans based on mutual kinship. There were scant cities and agriculture in Arabia except for Mecca and Medina (then called Yathrib) which were important hubs for trade between Africa and Eurasia with most citizens there being merchants - this all will become important VERY SOON.

Right around 620-30s there arose a new ofshoot of abrahamic religions - Islam, and it would become big, really big. The details on Islam can be found on the respective [[Mythology|page]] or on the other wiki, but the religion blew up FAST and in some 40 years after it's inception managed to conquer whole of Arabia, Persia and vast swathes of Byzantine empire. An interesting thing about Islam is that it's prophet Mohammad was also a military and political leader and while Jesus or Buddha left us general ethical and metaphysical messages, Mohammad was around for a bit longer and proscribed social and political tenets to the faith which gave rise to the concept of a Caliphate - a theocratic social polity that was to be the way to run things. The conquest stopped in the 750s as the new Caliphate ran out of steam and the usual fracturing between successors began after Muhammad was unalived, but Islam had by this time profiled itself as the pre-eminent socio-political and religious force in the Middle East under the various dynasties of the Caliphates.

Shortly after Islam became the dominant religion in Arabia, the Muslim conquests expanded ''very'' rapidly east and west, spreading across all of North Africa and even into southern Europe, where they claimed the entirety of Spain for centuries and besieged large parts of Italy and France. The Byzantines and Franks successfully halted further expansion, but Caliphate still claimed enough territory to rival and eventually supersede the Byzantines. The wealth and power that came with it ensured that the formerly backwater state of Arabia would remain a powerhouse for years to come.

The Arabian islamic vanguard would continue to dominate the newly conquered and islamised lands for the next 300 years. When Muhammad introduced Islam it had a the effect of nearly erasing the other various Middle Eastern cultures, although it also inspired advances in architecture, science, technology, and the formation of a distinct way of life giving it overall a mixed heritage. Islam also created the need for spectacularly built mosques to flex on their Abrahamic siblings which also created a unique form of architecture. Meanwhile, missionaries and warriors worked to forcibly spread the religion from Arabia to North and Sudanic Africa, South and Southeast Asia, and the Mesopotamia area. This created a potent mix of cultures, especially in Africa. Lastly, the "People of the Book" (Christians, Jews, and Zoroastrians) were allowed to live although in second class conditions. This courtesy wasn't extended to members of polytheist religions or Buddhism, with those folks being given the option of convert or die. This period would be disrupted by two events - the arrival of Seljuks/Turks and the Crusades.

=== The Crusades (1000 - 1300) ===
In the 1000's, the Persians (now rebranded as the Seljuks) started some shit with the Byzantines that ultimately ended with them sacking Constantinople. Between the eastern armies crossing the Hellespont and the blocking of pilgrimages into Jerusalem was the last straw for Christendom, and war were declared, whereupon thousands of ambitious princes, mercenaries, fugitives, and fanatics swarmed to Venice, got on boats, and proceeded to invade Jerusalem, intending to take back the Holy Land for Christendom from the Mohammedans.

Individual crusades were met with varied success; the first Crusade successfully caught the Seljuks offguard and led to the creation of the so-called Crusader States, which lasted for about a hundred years. Then an Arab warlord named Saladin who broke off from the Seljuks successfully rallied the people of Egypt and Syria to reclaim Jerusalem; following this, several more crusades were waged by Europe to retake the city, none of which were successful. Several centuries of war ensued, and while the invaders from Europe won the occasional dramatic victory, they were eventually forced away, although it did end any aspirations of Islam forcing its culture upon Europe.

And as the stalwart defenders of Arabia stood on the coast of Palestine, watching the sun set on their retreating enemies, they suddenly heard behind them the cheers and horse hooves of a million GODDAMN MONGOLIANS.

[[image:Constantinople-from-the-entrance-thomas-allom.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Lots of ottomans there, also some Ottomans. ]]

=== Ottoman Period (1300 - 1918) ===
The Ilkhanate hordes of Tulai ultimately were held out of Arabia, although the Seljuks fell to them completely. But as has been established in many other articles featuring the Mongols, they weren't very good at REMAINING Mongol once they ran out of things to put arrows in; in this case they discovered Islam and for once decided that some outsider's religion was actually their kind of thing, probably having to do with a similar bloodthirstiness towards "the other". What succeeded them was the Ottoman empire. Over the next 500 years the Ottomans would largely reunite all of the former Roman territories east of Cisalpine Gaul, into a massive, mostly-Islamic caliphate held together by the Turks, Greeks, and Egyptians that formed its foundation.

The power that held the Ottomans together was the [[Space Marines|Janissaries]]. A Janissary was a Christian male from the Balkan areas of the Empire, forcibly conscripted in youth and forced to convert to Islam (including getting circumcised, since the conscriptees would have been mostly Orthodox), and then subjected to a rigorous military training that made them one of the most elite fighting forces of their time. They were forbidden to marry before forty, but were paid a lifetime salary. Although a brutal system, the resulting army was exceptionally professional, impartial to the empire's many tribes and territories, and utterly loyal to the Sultanate. The net effect of the Janissaries were that the individual animosities of various sects were dampened under Ottoman rule, in favor of the [[Tau|greater greed]] of the Sultanate.

For most of it's life, the Ottoman empire wasn't a terribly bad place to live if you were a Muslim. There was relative peace and prosperity due to flourishing trade as it stood at the crossroads between the Mediterranean and the sea routes to the far east. There was religious freedom as long as taxes were paid (except for non-monotheists) and all the wealth and luxuries of the world to be found in their markets. Interestingly, there were THREE separate, government sanctioned court systems, specifically one system for muslims, another for christians & jews, and the trade courts which handled civil and commercial disputes. The good times ended however when the Europeans discovered that it was slightly cheaper to sail all the fuck way around Africa than to pay Ottoman taxes.

[[image:ModernMiddleEast.jpg|thumb|300px|right|We've come a long way, eh sadiq?]]

=== Modern History (1918 - 20XX) ===
After Ottoman Empire was defeated and WW1 ended, French and Brits decided to screw their own Middle Eastern allies (as usual) and set up their own colonial regimes and puppet states, this was all but codified in the secret Sykes-Picot Agreement which created a bunch of artificial states that would all but guarantee that the region north of Saudi Arabia would remain a socio-political quagmire for many decades to come. Most notable ones are French Syria, British Palestine and Kuwait, as well as marionette Kingdom of Iraq. Saudi Arabia was also formed in that time period from old Arabian peninsula states, while Oman and Yemen became British puppets. This status quo remained all the way up to 1950s, even during WWII (well, if you don't count joint Allied intervention to Iran to prevent it from joining the Axis and get a new safe way for a land-lease, as well as short Iraqi campaign to weed out pro-Hitler Golden Square Party).

During the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s, Syria and Egypt made moves towards independence since the Sick man of Bosphorus was fast dying of anachronism and lack of key reforms. Although the Kingdom of Egypt was technically "neutral" during World War II, Cairo soon became a major military base for the British and the country was occupied. In Palestine, a potent shitstorm was brewing as conflicting forces of Arab nationalism and Zionism created a situation the British could neither resolve nor gtfo from. The rise of Germany's Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party, who the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem told the idea of the Holocaust to, had created a new urgency in the Zionist quest to immigrate to Palestine and create a Jewish state.

The modern Middle East was primarily shaped by three factors - decolonisation as Europe just gave up on the overcomplicated region to deal with issues at home, the founding of the state of Israel with all the "FUN" that entailed, and the growing importance of this stinky slimy substance called oil. A further layer of complexity was added by the new [[Cold War]] order which saw the world's two remaining superpowers - the USA/NATO and USSR/Warsaw Pact take a keen interest in the region due to various opportunities to dick with each other and the region being the largest (then) known source of civilization-driving oil, with the U.S.A. supporting Israel's right to exist, and the Soviets supporting Palestine's wish to drive the Jews into the sea, figuring they could finish off the Jews and have one less religion they'd have to finish off themselves if they could conquer the Middle East.

== Middle Eastern Culture ==

In general, Middle Eastern and Central Asian cultures in the region can be split into Semitic (Hebrew, Syriac, Arab, etc), Iranic (Persian, Farsi, Tajik, Baloch, etc), and Turkic (Azeri, Kazakh, Uzbek, etc) alongside related/historically related groups on the outer edges of the region (such as the Caucasus-inhabiting Armenians or Georgians and the Urdu-Hindi groups in [[India]] in the former case or the Kushans, Scythians, Huns, & Mongols in the latter case). The long history of the region means many of the cultures and ethnic groups have long histories of with each other with both peaceful and violent interactions with each other like in the European Balkans.

== Middle Eastern Religion, Gods and Mythology ==

More than any other region, the Middle East is indelibly linked to the history of monotheism. Greek and Egyptian polytheistic systems coexisted alongside Persian Zoroastrianism and the Abrahamic Hebrew and many other minor sects. All of which were subjugated in the successive conquests of Alexander, and then Rome behind him.

The Romans acted as a great plow, tilling the region and leaving all the minor tribes and faiths fertile for proselytization. And the winner of this great disruption was Abrahamism, which stomped out most of its competitors (ie, the Gnostics). Christianity rose in lockstep with opposition to Roman rule, and then Islam in turn followed it as a response to the void as the empire fell, and finally eastern orthodoxy as the Catholic church began to schism.

By 1100 AD, the following could be said:

* Islam commanded the majority of the region, with the Shia branch being strongest in old Persia and the Sunni being dominant pretty much everywhere else. The Ibadi moderate spinoffs from the Khawarij zeaots who attacked both sides were restricted to Oman with small pockets in the Sahara.
* Eastern Orthodox Christians (in Coptic, Assyrian and Greek flavors) were entrenched as minorities in the old Greek colonies north of Arabia, in Assyrian region (yes, the nation is still there, but is very small now) and in Egypt.
* Zoroastrianism and Judaism were entrenched as minorities all over, with some concentration in their respective homelands of Persia and Jerusalem respectively.
* Polytheism in the Middle East, both in its Egyptian and Hellenistic flavors, was extinct.

== Middle Eastern Magic ==

The Middle East has its fair share of supernatural folklore such as the Djinn, ghouls, Shedu, Magi, etc. In addition, no thanks to Alexander the Great’s conquest of the region, alongside the long rule of the Diadochi, the Silk Road, and the Mongol invasions, meant that the Central Asian and Middle Eastern region served as a melting pot for ideas to be exchanged and and syncretized. One example being the conflation of Heracles from the Greco-Batrian settlers with the guardian bodhisattva, Vajrapāṇi, in Buddhism. On the other hand, once monotheism became dominant in the Middle East proper, such theological exchanges lessoned out with the focus being on philosophical, economic, and scientific exchanges instead.

==Middle East Analogs in Fantasy==

* [[Araby]] (duh), [[Badlands]] (in geographical sense) and [[Darklands]] (culturally) in [[Warhammer Fantasy Battle]].
* [[Tallarn Desert Raiders]] Regiment of [[Imperial Guard]] in [[Warhammer 40,000]].
* [[Al-Qadim]] campaign setting from [[DnD]]
* Near Harad from [[Lord of the Rings]]
* Prince of Persia series of vidya
* Shaqqislam factions in [[Infinity]]
* The Imperium (both the Empires rules ny the Corrino and Atreides Dynasties) in [[Dune]]

[[Category: History]]

Middle East

2022-05-04T18:36:16Z

2607:FB90:6FF4:7A06:D087:A795:6215:797A: /* Middle East Analogs in Fantasy */

{{skubby}}

[[image:Middle_East.png|thumb|300px|right|A thousand sights, a thousand nights, a thousand years, a thousand tears...]]
{{topquote|They say in the Middle East - a pessimist is simply an optimist with experience.| Ehud Barak}}

The Middle East is a region that broadly spans from [[Egypt]] in the west to [[India]] in the east with northern and southern borders being the Black & Caspian sea and the Arabian Sea respectively. In the middle of all of this is over 6000 years of civilization, at least half-a-dozen awesome and significant cultures, more history than you can shake a...anything at really and also a fuckton of culture, wars and mineable stuff. The importance of the region and it's myriad of cultures has not lessened in the 20th and 21st centuries as the region continues to be, if not exactly influential, then influenced due to the resources and politics going on around it and within it.

Since it is Europe's closest neighbour, the region and it's societies have been interacting with the smorgasbord of Europe's cultures since at least the [[Bronze Age]] so there are a number of analogues of Middle Eastern societies in fantasy and even sci-fi. Dungeons and Dragons has [[Al-Qadim]], [[Lord of the Rings]] has Harad, Game of Thrones has Mereen and so on. And this is not even counting [[Video Games]] either.

== Middle Eastern History ==

The Middle East, being one of the ¨cradles of civilization¨ has metric gigatons of history under it's belt, more than even [[China]] so the sections below will be the broadest overviews by necessity. Still the history van be roughly divided into 4 periods with a number of sub-periods within each. So strap yourself in as we dive into the deep end of history.

=== Ancient History (4000 BC - 500 AD) ===
[[image:Babylon.png|thumb|300px|right|Between the time when the oceans drank Atlantis and the rise of the sons of Aryas, there was an age undreamed of...]]
After the period of various neolithic cultures discovering agriculture, the first human towns and city-states began to form (these could go back to as early as 9000-7000 BC as attested by Catal Huyuk and Jericho). The most prominent cities of this period were Uruk, Babillon, Elam and others. Two civilizations of note arose in this era around 3500 BC - Sumer and Akkad which are famous for their ziggurats (OG pyramids) and for laying the basis for much of civilization in the west since their stuff was picked up by Egyptians, then Greeks and so on. In about 2340 BC Sargon the Great united the various city-states in the south and thus founded the Akkadian dynasty - the world's first empire.

This set a kind of precedent for future powerful empires that would come to rule almost the entire Middle East. After Akkadians, of note are the Assyrian Empires of 1365–1076 BC and the Neo-Assyrian Empire of 911–605 BC. The Assyrian Empire at its peak was the largest the world had yet seen. It ruled all of what is now Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Kuwait, Jordan, [[Egypt]], Cyprus, and Bahrain—with large swathes of Iran, Turkey, Armenia, Georgia, Sudan, and Arabia.

From the early 6th century BC onwards there were several Persian states that dominated the region, beginning with the non-Persian Neo-Babylonian Empire, then their successor the Achaemenid Empire also known as the first Persian Empire. In the 300s BC a gigachad guy called Alexander the Great decided that he wanted to rule the world and so he went ahead and conquered everything from Greece to Egypt all the way to the border of [[India]]. Sadly he died just as he was getting to the process of ruling his mega-empire and in a final moment of chadery he declared that his empire would belong "to the strongest" and within 5 minutes there were a bunch of successor empires like the Seleucids, Bactrians, Ptolemaic [[Egypt]] and others, and virtually all of them had a city called Alexandria but the one in Egypt mattered most.

After Alexander, the various Alexandrian successor states were dicking around with each other, not noticing the big roman-shaped shadow rising in the west. In 66–63 BC the Roman general Pompey got shit done and conquered much of the Middle East in one fell swoop. The Romans united the region into yet another giga-empire and integrated the region with most of Europe and North Africa in terms of politics and economics, not to mention the globalising effect of free transit for imperial citizens and dependents. Even areas not directly under Rome were strongly influenced by the Empire which was the most powerful political and cultural entity for centuries.

Though Romans brought much of their culture, law and customs to the region, the Greek culture and language continued to dominate as well, being another strong cultural factor. The region effectively became the Empire's "bread basket" as the key agricultural producer and as a somewhat of a consolation for egyptians who survived as a culture this long - Ægyptus became by far the most wealthy Roman province and a center of learning.

It's also worth mentioning that to the east of Roman Empire were also two major polities - the Parthian and the Kushan empires. The former represented a constant threat to Rome's eastern boundaries before transitioning into the Sassanid Empire due to internal strife while Kushan would do it's own thing. There is also evidence of Tang [[China]] doing trade with the region and even being aware of Rome. Lastly, starting from the 30s AD - Christianity would see a significant spread from Palestine/Judea though it would not advance much farther east than Euphrates-Tigris border in a significant manner.

After the fragmentation of the Western Roman Empire, the eastern half decided that it really liked the color purple and rebranded itself as...the Roman Empire (Byzantium being an anachronistic modern name but we will roll with it for the sake of convenience). Byzantium continued to trudge along, occupying the western portion of the region and even expanding to reconquer a respectable amount of the former Roman Empire in the 500s though from there it would decline in favour of other powers.

=== Medieval History (500 - 1000) ===
[[image:Bazaar.png|thumb|300px|right|You want it? It's yours sadiq, so long as you have enough gold!]]
In the 5-6th centuries the Middle East was separated into small, weak states loomed over by two vast empires - the Sasanian Empire of the Persians and the Byzantine Empire in Anatolia plus the Levant. The Byzantines and Sasanians dicked with each other as a neat reflection of the rivalry between the Roman and the Persian empires. The Byzantine-Sasanian rivalry was also seen through their respective cultures and religions. The Byzantines were the champions of Hellenism and Christianity while the Sasanians thought themselves heroes of ancient Iranian traditions and of the traditional Persian religion - Zoroastrianism.

Meanwhile, down south we have the Arabian Peninsula which largely was and continued to be a dustbowl of little importance. The nomadic Bedouin tribes dominated the Arabian deserts where they worshiped idols and were organised into small clans based on mutual kinship. There were scant cities and agriculture in Arabia except for Mecca and Medina (then called Yathrib) which were important hubs for trade between Africa and Eurasia with most citizens there being merchants - this all will become important VERY SOON.

Right around 620-30s there arose a new ofshoot of abrahamic religions - Islam, and it would become big, really big. The details on Islam can be found on the respective [[Mythology|page]] or on the other wiki, but the religion blew up FAST and in some 40 years after it's inception managed to conquer whole of Arabia, Persia and vast swathes of Byzantine empire. An interesting thing about Islam is that it's prophet Mohammad was also a military and political leader and while Jesus or Buddha left us general ethical and metaphysical messages, Mohammad was around for a bit longer and proscribed social and political tenets to the faith which gave rise to the concept of a Caliphate - a theocratic social polity that was to be the way to run things. The conquest stopped in the 750s as the new Caliphate ran out of steam and the usual fracturing between successors began after Muhammad was unalived, but Islam had by this time profiled itself as the pre-eminent socio-political and religious force in the Middle East under the various dynasties of the Caliphates.

Shortly after Islam became the dominant religion in Arabia, the Muslim conquests expanded ''very'' rapidly east and west, spreading across all of North Africa and even into southern Europe, where they claimed the entirety of Spain for centuries and besieged large parts of Italy and France. The Byzantines and Franks successfully halted further expansion, but Caliphate still claimed enough territory to rival and eventually supersede the Byzantines. The wealth and power that came with it ensured that the formerly backwater state of Arabia would remain a powerhouse for years to come.

The Arabian islamic vanguard would continue to dominate the newly conquered and islamised lands for the next 300 years. When Muhammad introduced Islam it had a the effect of nearly erasing the other various Middle Eastern cultures, although it also inspired advances in architecture, science, technology, and the formation of a distinct way of life giving it overall a mixed heritage. Islam also created the need for spectacularly built mosques to flex on their Abrahamic siblings which also created a unique form of architecture. Meanwhile, missionaries and warriors worked to forcibly spread the religion from Arabia to North and Sudanic Africa, South and Southeast Asia, and the Mesopotamia area. This created a potent mix of cultures, especially in Africa. Lastly, the "People of the Book" (Christians, Jews, and Zoroastrians) were allowed to live although in second class conditions. This courtesy wasn't extended to members of polytheist religions or Buddhism, with those folks being given the option of convert or die. This period would be disrupted by two events - the arrival of Seljuks/Turks and the Crusades.

=== The Crusades (1000 - 1300) ===
In the 1000's, the Persians (now rebranded as the Seljuks) started some shit with the Byzantines that ultimately ended with them sacking Constantinople. Between the eastern armies crossing the Hellespont and the blocking of pilgrimages into Jerusalem was the last straw for Christendom, and war were declared, whereupon thousands of ambitious princes, mercenaries, fugitives, and fanatics swarmed to Venice, got on boats, and proceeded to invade Jerusalem, intending to take back the Holy Land for Christendom from the Mohammedans.

Individual crusades were met with varied success; the first Crusade successfully caught the Seljuks offguard and led to the creation of the so-called Crusader States, which lasted for about a hundred years. Then an Arab warlord named Saladin who broke off from the Seljuks successfully rallied the people of Egypt and Syria to reclaim Jerusalem; following this, several more crusades were waged by Europe to retake the city, none of which were successful. Several centuries of war ensued, and while the invaders from Europe won the occasional dramatic victory, they were eventually forced away, although it did end any aspirations of Islam forcing its culture upon Europe.

And as the stalwart defenders of Arabia stood on the coast of Palestine, watching the sun set on their retreating enemies, they suddenly heard behind them the cheers and horse hooves of a million GODDAMN MONGOLIANS.

[[image:Constantinople-from-the-entrance-thomas-allom.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Lots of ottomans there, also some Ottomans. ]]

=== Ottoman Period (1300 - 1918) ===
The Ilkhanate hordes of Tulai ultimately were held out of Arabia, although the Seljuks fell to them completely. But as has been established in many other articles featuring the Mongols, they weren't very good at REMAINING Mongol once they ran out of things to put arrows in; in this case they discovered Islam and for once decided that some outsider's religion was actually their kind of thing, probably having to do with a similar bloodthirstiness towards "the other". What succeeded them was the Ottoman empire. Over the next 500 years the Ottomans would largely reunite all of the former Roman territories east of Cisalpine Gaul, into a massive, mostly-Islamic caliphate held together by the Turks, Greeks, and Egyptians that formed its foundation.

The power that held the Ottomans together was the [[Space Marines|Janissaries]]. A Janissary was a Christian male from the Balkan areas of the Empire, forcibly conscripted in youth and forced to convert to Islam (including getting circumcised, since the conscriptees would have been mostly Orthodox), and then subjected to a rigorous military training that made them one of the most elite fighting forces of their time. They were forbidden to marry before forty, but were paid a lifetime salary. Although a brutal system, the resulting army was exceptionally professional, impartial to the empire's many tribes and territories, and utterly loyal to the Sultanate. The net effect of the Janissaries were that the individual animosities of various sects were dampened under Ottoman rule, in favor of the [[Tau|greater greed]] of the Sultanate.

For most of it's life, the Ottoman empire wasn't a terribly bad place to live if you were a Muslim. There was relative peace and prosperity due to flourishing trade as it stood at the crossroads between the Mediterranean and the sea routes to the far east. There was religious freedom as long as taxes were paid (except for non-monotheists) and all the wealth and luxuries of the world to be found in their markets. Interestingly, there were THREE separate, government sanctioned court systems, specifically one system for muslims, another for christians & jews, and the trade courts which handled civil and commercial disputes. The good times ended however when the Europeans discovered that it was slightly cheaper to sail all the fuck way around Africa than to pay Ottoman taxes.

[[image:ModernMiddleEast.jpg|thumb|300px|right|We've come a long way, eh sadiq?]]

=== Modern History (1918 - 20XX) ===
After Ottoman Empire was defeated and WW1 ended, French and Brits decided to screw their own Middle Eastern allies (as usual) and set up their own colonial regimes and puppet states, this was all but codified in the secret Sykes-Picot Agreement which created a bunch of artificial states that would all but guarantee that the region north of Saudi Arabia would remain a socio-political quagmire for many decades to come. Most notable ones are French Syria, British Palestine and Kuwait, as well as marionette Kingdom of Iraq. Saudi Arabia was also formed in that time period from old Arabian peninsula states, while Oman and Yemen became British puppets. This status quo remained all the way up to 1950s, even during WWII (well, if you don't count joint Allied intervention to Iran to prevent it from joining the Axis and get a new safe way for a land-lease, as well as short Iraqi campaign to weed out pro-Hitler Golden Square Party).

During the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s, Syria and Egypt made moves towards independence since the Sick man of Bosphorus was fast dying of anachronism and lack of key reforms. Although the Kingdom of Egypt was technically "neutral" during World War II, Cairo soon became a major military base for the British and the country was occupied. In Palestine, a potent shitstorm was brewing as conflicting forces of Arab nationalism and Zionism created a situation the British could neither resolve nor gtfo from. The rise of Germany's Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party, who the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem told the idea of the Holocaust to, had created a new urgency in the Zionist quest to immigrate to Palestine and create a Jewish state.

The modern Middle East was primarily shaped by three factors - decolonisation as Europe just gave up on the overcomplicated region to deal with issues at home, the founding of the state of Israel with all the "FUN" that entailed, and the growing importance of this stinky slimy substance called oil. A further layer of complexity was added by the new [[Cold War]] order which saw the world's two remaining superpowers - the USA/NATO and USSR/Warsaw Pact take a keen interest in the region due to various opportunities to dick with each other and the region being the largest (then) known source of civilization-driving oil, with the U.S.A. supporting Israel's right to exist, and the Soviets supporting Palestine's wish to drive the Jews into the sea, figuring they could finish off the Jews and have one less religion they'd have to finish off themselves if they could conquer the Middle East.

== Middle Eastern Culture ==

In general, Middle Eastern and Central Asian cultures in the region can be split into Semitic (Hebrew, Syriac, Arab, etc), Iranic (Persian, Farsi, Tajik, Baloch, etc), and Turkic (Azeri, Kazakh, Uzbek, etc) alongside related/historically related groups on the outer edges of the region (such as the Caucasus-inhabiting Armenians or Georgians and the Urdu-Hindi groups in [[India]] in the former case or the Kushans, Scythians, Huns, & Mongols in the latter case). The long history of the region means many of the cultures and ethnic groups have long histories of with each other with both peaceful and violent interactions with each other like in the European Balkans.

== Middle Eastern Religion, Gods and Mythology ==

More than any other region, the Middle East is indelibly linked to the history of monotheism. Greek and Egyptian polytheistic systems coexisted alongside Persian Zoroastrianism and the Abrahamic Hebrew and many other minor sects. All of which were subjugated in the successive conquests of Alexander, and then Rome behind him.

The Romans acted as a great plow, tilling the region and leaving all the minor tribes and faiths fertile for proselytization. And the winner of this great disruption was Abrahamism, which stomped out most of its competitors (ie, the Gnostics). Christianity rose in lockstep with opposition to Roman rule, and then Islam in turn followed it as a response to the void as the empire fell, and finally eastern orthodoxy as the Catholic church began to schism.

By 1100 AD, the following could be said:

* Islam commanded the majority of the region, with the Shia branch being strongest in old Persia and the Sunni being dominant pretty much everywhere else. The Ibadi moderate spinoffs from the Khawarij zeaots who attacked both sides were restricted to Oman with small pockets in the Sahara.
* Eastern Orthodox Christians (in Coptic, Assyrian and Greek flavors) were entrenched as minorities in the old Greek colonies north of Arabia, in Assyrian region (yes, the nation is still there, but is very small now) and in Egypt.
* Zoroastrianism and Judaism were entrenched as minorities all over, with some concentration in their respective homelands of Persia and Jerusalem respectively.
* Polytheism in the Middle East, both in its Egyptian and Hellenistic flavors, was extinct.

== Middle Eastern Magic ==

The Middle East has its fair share of supernatural folklore such as the Djinn, ghouls, Shedu, Magi, etc. In addition, no thanks to Alexander the Great’s conquest of the region, alongside the long rule of the Diadochi, the Silk Road, and the Mongol invasions, meant that the Central Asian and Middle Eastern region served as a melting pot for ideas to be exchanged and and syncretized. One example being the conflation of Heracles from the Greco-Batrian settlers with the guardian bodhisattva, Vajrapāṇi, in Buddhism. On the other hand, once monotheism became dominant in the Middle East proper, such theological exchanges lessoned out with the focus being on philosophical, economic, and scientific exchanges instead.

==Middle East Analogs in Fantasy==

* [[Araby]] (duh), [[Badlands]] (in geographical sense) and [[Darklands]] (culturally) in [[Warhammer Fantasy Battle]].
* [[Tallarn Desert Raiders]] Regiment of [[Imperial Guard]] in [[Warhammer 40,000]].
* [[Al-Qadim]] campaign setting from [[DnD]]
* Near Harad from [[Lord of the Rings]]
* Prince of Persia series of vidya
* Shaqqislam factions in [[Infinity]]
* The Imperium in [[Dune]]

[[Category: History]]

Middle East

2022-05-04T18:35:45Z

2607:FB90:6FF4:7A06:D087:A795:6215:797A: /* Middle Eastern Magic */

{{skubby}}

[[image:Middle_East.png|thumb|300px|right|A thousand sights, a thousand nights, a thousand years, a thousand tears...]]
{{topquote|They say in the Middle East - a pessimist is simply an optimist with experience.| Ehud Barak}}

The Middle East is a region that broadly spans from [[Egypt]] in the west to [[India]] in the east with northern and southern borders being the Black & Caspian sea and the Arabian Sea respectively. In the middle of all of this is over 6000 years of civilization, at least half-a-dozen awesome and significant cultures, more history than you can shake a...anything at really and also a fuckton of culture, wars and mineable stuff. The importance of the region and it's myriad of cultures has not lessened in the 20th and 21st centuries as the region continues to be, if not exactly influential, then influenced due to the resources and politics going on around it and within it.

Since it is Europe's closest neighbour, the region and it's societies have been interacting with the smorgasbord of Europe's cultures since at least the [[Bronze Age]] so there are a number of analogues of Middle Eastern societies in fantasy and even sci-fi. Dungeons and Dragons has [[Al-Qadim]], [[Lord of the Rings]] has Harad, Game of Thrones has Mereen and so on. And this is not even counting [[Video Games]] either.

== Middle Eastern History ==

The Middle East, being one of the ¨cradles of civilization¨ has metric gigatons of history under it's belt, more than even [[China]] so the sections below will be the broadest overviews by necessity. Still the history van be roughly divided into 4 periods with a number of sub-periods within each. So strap yourself in as we dive into the deep end of history.

=== Ancient History (4000 BC - 500 AD) ===
[[image:Babylon.png|thumb|300px|right|Between the time when the oceans drank Atlantis and the rise of the sons of Aryas, there was an age undreamed of...]]
After the period of various neolithic cultures discovering agriculture, the first human towns and city-states began to form (these could go back to as early as 9000-7000 BC as attested by Catal Huyuk and Jericho). The most prominent cities of this period were Uruk, Babillon, Elam and others. Two civilizations of note arose in this era around 3500 BC - Sumer and Akkad which are famous for their ziggurats (OG pyramids) and for laying the basis for much of civilization in the west since their stuff was picked up by Egyptians, then Greeks and so on. In about 2340 BC Sargon the Great united the various city-states in the south and thus founded the Akkadian dynasty - the world's first empire.

This set a kind of precedent for future powerful empires that would come to rule almost the entire Middle East. After Akkadians, of note are the Assyrian Empires of 1365–1076 BC and the Neo-Assyrian Empire of 911–605 BC. The Assyrian Empire at its peak was the largest the world had yet seen. It ruled all of what is now Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Kuwait, Jordan, [[Egypt]], Cyprus, and Bahrain—with large swathes of Iran, Turkey, Armenia, Georgia, Sudan, and Arabia.

From the early 6th century BC onwards there were several Persian states that dominated the region, beginning with the non-Persian Neo-Babylonian Empire, then their successor the Achaemenid Empire also known as the first Persian Empire. In the 300s BC a gigachad guy called Alexander the Great decided that he wanted to rule the world and so he went ahead and conquered everything from Greece to Egypt all the way to the border of [[India]]. Sadly he died just as he was getting to the process of ruling his mega-empire and in a final moment of chadery he declared that his empire would belong "to the strongest" and within 5 minutes there were a bunch of successor empires like the Seleucids, Bactrians, Ptolemaic [[Egypt]] and others, and virtually all of them had a city called Alexandria but the one in Egypt mattered most.

After Alexander, the various Alexandrian successor states were dicking around with each other, not noticing the big roman-shaped shadow rising in the west. In 66–63 BC the Roman general Pompey got shit done and conquered much of the Middle East in one fell swoop. The Romans united the region into yet another giga-empire and integrated the region with most of Europe and North Africa in terms of politics and economics, not to mention the globalising effect of free transit for imperial citizens and dependents. Even areas not directly under Rome were strongly influenced by the Empire which was the most powerful political and cultural entity for centuries.

Though Romans brought much of their culture, law and customs to the region, the Greek culture and language continued to dominate as well, being another strong cultural factor. The region effectively became the Empire's "bread basket" as the key agricultural producer and as a somewhat of a consolation for egyptians who survived as a culture this long - Ægyptus became by far the most wealthy Roman province and a center of learning.

It's also worth mentioning that to the east of Roman Empire were also two major polities - the Parthian and the Kushan empires. The former represented a constant threat to Rome's eastern boundaries before transitioning into the Sassanid Empire due to internal strife while Kushan would do it's own thing. There is also evidence of Tang [[China]] doing trade with the region and even being aware of Rome. Lastly, starting from the 30s AD - Christianity would see a significant spread from Palestine/Judea though it would not advance much farther east than Euphrates-Tigris border in a significant manner.

After the fragmentation of the Western Roman Empire, the eastern half decided that it really liked the color purple and rebranded itself as...the Roman Empire (Byzantium being an anachronistic modern name but we will roll with it for the sake of convenience). Byzantium continued to trudge along, occupying the western portion of the region and even expanding to reconquer a respectable amount of the former Roman Empire in the 500s though from there it would decline in favour of other powers.

=== Medieval History (500 - 1000) ===
[[image:Bazaar.png|thumb|300px|right|You want it? It's yours sadiq, so long as you have enough gold!]]
In the 5-6th centuries the Middle East was separated into small, weak states loomed over by two vast empires - the Sasanian Empire of the Persians and the Byzantine Empire in Anatolia plus the Levant. The Byzantines and Sasanians dicked with each other as a neat reflection of the rivalry between the Roman and the Persian empires. The Byzantine-Sasanian rivalry was also seen through their respective cultures and religions. The Byzantines were the champions of Hellenism and Christianity while the Sasanians thought themselves heroes of ancient Iranian traditions and of the traditional Persian religion - Zoroastrianism.

Meanwhile, down south we have the Arabian Peninsula which largely was and continued to be a dustbowl of little importance. The nomadic Bedouin tribes dominated the Arabian deserts where they worshiped idols and were organised into small clans based on mutual kinship. There were scant cities and agriculture in Arabia except for Mecca and Medina (then called Yathrib) which were important hubs for trade between Africa and Eurasia with most citizens there being merchants - this all will become important VERY SOON.

Right around 620-30s there arose a new ofshoot of abrahamic religions - Islam, and it would become big, really big. The details on Islam can be found on the respective [[Mythology|page]] or on the other wiki, but the religion blew up FAST and in some 40 years after it's inception managed to conquer whole of Arabia, Persia and vast swathes of Byzantine empire. An interesting thing about Islam is that it's prophet Mohammad was also a military and political leader and while Jesus or Buddha left us general ethical and metaphysical messages, Mohammad was around for a bit longer and proscribed social and political tenets to the faith which gave rise to the concept of a Caliphate - a theocratic social polity that was to be the way to run things. The conquest stopped in the 750s as the new Caliphate ran out of steam and the usual fracturing between successors began after Muhammad was unalived, but Islam had by this time profiled itself as the pre-eminent socio-political and religious force in the Middle East under the various dynasties of the Caliphates.

Shortly after Islam became the dominant religion in Arabia, the Muslim conquests expanded ''very'' rapidly east and west, spreading across all of North Africa and even into southern Europe, where they claimed the entirety of Spain for centuries and besieged large parts of Italy and France. The Byzantines and Franks successfully halted further expansion, but Caliphate still claimed enough territory to rival and eventually supersede the Byzantines. The wealth and power that came with it ensured that the formerly backwater state of Arabia would remain a powerhouse for years to come.

The Arabian islamic vanguard would continue to dominate the newly conquered and islamised lands for the next 300 years. When Muhammad introduced Islam it had a the effect of nearly erasing the other various Middle Eastern cultures, although it also inspired advances in architecture, science, technology, and the formation of a distinct way of life giving it overall a mixed heritage. Islam also created the need for spectacularly built mosques to flex on their Abrahamic siblings which also created a unique form of architecture. Meanwhile, missionaries and warriors worked to forcibly spread the religion from Arabia to North and Sudanic Africa, South and Southeast Asia, and the Mesopotamia area. This created a potent mix of cultures, especially in Africa. Lastly, the "People of the Book" (Christians, Jews, and Zoroastrians) were allowed to live although in second class conditions. This courtesy wasn't extended to members of polytheist religions or Buddhism, with those folks being given the option of convert or die. This period would be disrupted by two events - the arrival of Seljuks/Turks and the Crusades.

=== The Crusades (1000 - 1300) ===
In the 1000's, the Persians (now rebranded as the Seljuks) started some shit with the Byzantines that ultimately ended with them sacking Constantinople. Between the eastern armies crossing the Hellespont and the blocking of pilgrimages into Jerusalem was the last straw for Christendom, and war were declared, whereupon thousands of ambitious princes, mercenaries, fugitives, and fanatics swarmed to Venice, got on boats, and proceeded to invade Jerusalem, intending to take back the Holy Land for Christendom from the Mohammedans.

Individual crusades were met with varied success; the first Crusade successfully caught the Seljuks offguard and led to the creation of the so-called Crusader States, which lasted for about a hundred years. Then an Arab warlord named Saladin who broke off from the Seljuks successfully rallied the people of Egypt and Syria to reclaim Jerusalem; following this, several more crusades were waged by Europe to retake the city, none of which were successful. Several centuries of war ensued, and while the invaders from Europe won the occasional dramatic victory, they were eventually forced away, although it did end any aspirations of Islam forcing its culture upon Europe.

And as the stalwart defenders of Arabia stood on the coast of Palestine, watching the sun set on their retreating enemies, they suddenly heard behind them the cheers and horse hooves of a million GODDAMN MONGOLIANS.

[[image:Constantinople-from-the-entrance-thomas-allom.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Lots of ottomans there, also some Ottomans. ]]

=== Ottoman Period (1300 - 1918) ===
The Ilkhanate hordes of Tulai ultimately were held out of Arabia, although the Seljuks fell to them completely. But as has been established in many other articles featuring the Mongols, they weren't very good at REMAINING Mongol once they ran out of things to put arrows in; in this case they discovered Islam and for once decided that some outsider's religion was actually their kind of thing, probably having to do with a similar bloodthirstiness towards "the other". What succeeded them was the Ottoman empire. Over the next 500 years the Ottomans would largely reunite all of the former Roman territories east of Cisalpine Gaul, into a massive, mostly-Islamic caliphate held together by the Turks, Greeks, and Egyptians that formed its foundation.

The power that held the Ottomans together was the [[Space Marines|Janissaries]]. A Janissary was a Christian male from the Balkan areas of the Empire, forcibly conscripted in youth and forced to convert to Islam (including getting circumcised, since the conscriptees would have been mostly Orthodox), and then subjected to a rigorous military training that made them one of the most elite fighting forces of their time. They were forbidden to marry before forty, but were paid a lifetime salary. Although a brutal system, the resulting army was exceptionally professional, impartial to the empire's many tribes and territories, and utterly loyal to the Sultanate. The net effect of the Janissaries were that the individual animosities of various sects were dampened under Ottoman rule, in favor of the [[Tau|greater greed]] of the Sultanate.

For most of it's life, the Ottoman empire wasn't a terribly bad place to live if you were a Muslim. There was relative peace and prosperity due to flourishing trade as it stood at the crossroads between the Mediterranean and the sea routes to the far east. There was religious freedom as long as taxes were paid (except for non-monotheists) and all the wealth and luxuries of the world to be found in their markets. Interestingly, there were THREE separate, government sanctioned court systems, specifically one system for muslims, another for christians & jews, and the trade courts which handled civil and commercial disputes. The good times ended however when the Europeans discovered that it was slightly cheaper to sail all the fuck way around Africa than to pay Ottoman taxes.

[[image:ModernMiddleEast.jpg|thumb|300px|right|We've come a long way, eh sadiq?]]

=== Modern History (1918 - 20XX) ===
After Ottoman Empire was defeated and WW1 ended, French and Brits decided to screw their own Middle Eastern allies (as usual) and set up their own colonial regimes and puppet states, this was all but codified in the secret Sykes-Picot Agreement which created a bunch of artificial states that would all but guarantee that the region north of Saudi Arabia would remain a socio-political quagmire for many decades to come. Most notable ones are French Syria, British Palestine and Kuwait, as well as marionette Kingdom of Iraq. Saudi Arabia was also formed in that time period from old Arabian peninsula states, while Oman and Yemen became British puppets. This status quo remained all the way up to 1950s, even during WWII (well, if you don't count joint Allied intervention to Iran to prevent it from joining the Axis and get a new safe way for a land-lease, as well as short Iraqi campaign to weed out pro-Hitler Golden Square Party).

During the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s, Syria and Egypt made moves towards independence since the Sick man of Bosphorus was fast dying of anachronism and lack of key reforms. Although the Kingdom of Egypt was technically "neutral" during World War II, Cairo soon became a major military base for the British and the country was occupied. In Palestine, a potent shitstorm was brewing as conflicting forces of Arab nationalism and Zionism created a situation the British could neither resolve nor gtfo from. The rise of Germany's Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party, who the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem told the idea of the Holocaust to, had created a new urgency in the Zionist quest to immigrate to Palestine and create a Jewish state.

The modern Middle East was primarily shaped by three factors - decolonisation as Europe just gave up on the overcomplicated region to deal with issues at home, the founding of the state of Israel with all the "FUN" that entailed, and the growing importance of this stinky slimy substance called oil. A further layer of complexity was added by the new [[Cold War]] order which saw the world's two remaining superpowers - the USA/NATO and USSR/Warsaw Pact take a keen interest in the region due to various opportunities to dick with each other and the region being the largest (then) known source of civilization-driving oil, with the U.S.A. supporting Israel's right to exist, and the Soviets supporting Palestine's wish to drive the Jews into the sea, figuring they could finish off the Jews and have one less religion they'd have to finish off themselves if they could conquer the Middle East.

== Middle Eastern Culture ==

In general, Middle Eastern and Central Asian cultures in the region can be split into Semitic (Hebrew, Syriac, Arab, etc), Iranic (Persian, Farsi, Tajik, Baloch, etc), and Turkic (Azeri, Kazakh, Uzbek, etc) alongside related/historically related groups on the outer edges of the region (such as the Caucasus-inhabiting Armenians or Georgians and the Urdu-Hindi groups in [[India]] in the former case or the Kushans, Scythians, Huns, & Mongols in the latter case). The long history of the region means many of the cultures and ethnic groups have long histories of with each other with both peaceful and violent interactions with each other like in the European Balkans.

== Middle Eastern Religion, Gods and Mythology ==

More than any other region, the Middle East is indelibly linked to the history of monotheism. Greek and Egyptian polytheistic systems coexisted alongside Persian Zoroastrianism and the Abrahamic Hebrew and many other minor sects. All of which were subjugated in the successive conquests of Alexander, and then Rome behind him.

The Romans acted as a great plow, tilling the region and leaving all the minor tribes and faiths fertile for proselytization. And the winner of this great disruption was Abrahamism, which stomped out most of its competitors (ie, the Gnostics). Christianity rose in lockstep with opposition to Roman rule, and then Islam in turn followed it as a response to the void as the empire fell, and finally eastern orthodoxy as the Catholic church began to schism.

By 1100 AD, the following could be said:

* Islam commanded the majority of the region, with the Shia branch being strongest in old Persia and the Sunni being dominant pretty much everywhere else. The Ibadi moderate spinoffs from the Khawarij zeaots who attacked both sides were restricted to Oman with small pockets in the Sahara.
* Eastern Orthodox Christians (in Coptic, Assyrian and Greek flavors) were entrenched as minorities in the old Greek colonies north of Arabia, in Assyrian region (yes, the nation is still there, but is very small now) and in Egypt.
* Zoroastrianism and Judaism were entrenched as minorities all over, with some concentration in their respective homelands of Persia and Jerusalem respectively.
* Polytheism in the Middle East, both in its Egyptian and Hellenistic flavors, was extinct.

== Middle Eastern Magic ==

The Middle East has its fair share of supernatural folklore such as the Djinn, ghouls, Shedu, Magi, etc. In addition, no thanks to Alexander the Great’s conquest of the region, alongside the long rule of the Diadochi, the Silk Road, and the Mongol invasions, meant that the Central Asian and Middle Eastern region served as a melting pot for ideas to be exchanged and and syncretized. One example being the conflation of Heracles from the Greco-Batrian settlers with the guardian bodhisattva, Vajrapāṇi, in Buddhism. On the other hand, once monotheism became dominant in the Middle East proper, such theological exchanges lessoned out with the focus being on philosophical, economic, and scientific exchanges instead.

==Middle East Analogs in Fantasy==

* [[Araby]] (duh), [[Badlands]] (in geographical sense) and [[Darklands]] (culturally) in [[Warhammer Fantasy Battle]].
* [[Tallarn Desert Raiders]] Regiment of [[Imperial Guard]] in [[Warhammer 40,000]].
* [[Al-Qadim]] campaign setting from [[DnD]]
* Near Harad from [[Lord of the Rings]]
* Prince of Persia series of vidya
* Shaqqislam factions in [[Infinity]]

[[Category: History]]

Middle East

2022-05-04T18:25:13Z

2607:FB90:6FF4:7A06:D087:A795:6215:797A: /* Middle Eastern Religion, Gods and Mythology */

{{skubby}}

[[image:Middle_East.png|thumb|300px|right|A thousand sights, a thousand nights, a thousand years, a thousand tears...]]
{{topquote|They say in the Middle East - a pessimist is simply an optimist with experience.| Ehud Barak}}

The Middle East is a region that broadly spans from [[Egypt]] in the west to [[India]] in the east with northern and southern borders being the Black & Caspian sea and the Arabian Sea respectively. In the middle of all of this is over 6000 years of civilization, at least half-a-dozen awesome and significant cultures, more history than you can shake a...anything at really and also a fuckton of culture, wars and mineable stuff. The importance of the region and it's myriad of cultures has not lessened in the 20th and 21st centuries as the region continues to be, if not exactly influential, then influenced due to the resources and politics going on around it and within it.

Since it is Europe's closest neighbour, the region and it's societies have been interacting with the smorgasbord of Europe's cultures since at least the [[Bronze Age]] so there are a number of analogues of Middle Eastern societies in fantasy and even sci-fi. Dungeons and Dragons has [[Al-Qadim]], [[Lord of the Rings]] has Harad, Game of Thrones has Mereen and so on. And this is not even counting [[Video Games]] either.

== Middle Eastern History ==

The Middle East, being one of the ¨cradles of civilization¨ has metric gigatons of history under it's belt, more than even [[China]] so the sections below will be the broadest overviews by necessity. Still the history van be roughly divided into 4 periods with a number of sub-periods within each. So strap yourself in as we dive into the deep end of history.

=== Ancient History (4000 BC - 500 AD) ===
[[image:Babylon.png|thumb|300px|right|Between the time when the oceans drank Atlantis and the rise of the sons of Aryas, there was an age undreamed of...]]
After the period of various neolithic cultures discovering agriculture, the first human towns and city-states began to form (these could go back to as early as 9000-7000 BC as attested by Catal Huyuk and Jericho). The most prominent cities of this period were Uruk, Babillon, Elam and others. Two civilizations of note arose in this era around 3500 BC - Sumer and Akkad which are famous for their ziggurats (OG pyramids) and for laying the basis for much of civilization in the west since their stuff was picked up by Egyptians, then Greeks and so on. In about 2340 BC Sargon the Great united the various city-states in the south and thus founded the Akkadian dynasty - the world's first empire.

This set a kind of precedent for future powerful empires that would come to rule almost the entire Middle East. After Akkadians, of note are the Assyrian Empires of 1365–1076 BC and the Neo-Assyrian Empire of 911–605 BC. The Assyrian Empire at its peak was the largest the world had yet seen. It ruled all of what is now Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Kuwait, Jordan, [[Egypt]], Cyprus, and Bahrain—with large swathes of Iran, Turkey, Armenia, Georgia, Sudan, and Arabia.

From the early 6th century BC onwards there were several Persian states that dominated the region, beginning with the non-Persian Neo-Babylonian Empire, then their successor the Achaemenid Empire also known as the first Persian Empire. In the 300s BC a gigachad guy called Alexander the Great decided that he wanted to rule the world and so he went ahead and conquered everything from Greece to Egypt all the way to the border of [[India]]. Sadly he died just as he was getting to the process of ruling his mega-empire and in a final moment of chadery he declared that his empire would belong "to the strongest" and within 5 minutes there were a bunch of successor empires like the Seleucids, Bactrians, Ptolemaic [[Egypt]] and others, and virtually all of them had a city called Alexandria but the one in Egypt mattered most.

After Alexander, the various Alexandrian successor states were dicking around with each other, not noticing the big roman-shaped shadow rising in the west. In 66–63 BC the Roman general Pompey got shit done and conquered much of the Middle East in one fell swoop. The Romans united the region into yet another giga-empire and integrated the region with most of Europe and North Africa in terms of politics and economics, not to mention the globalising effect of free transit for imperial citizens and dependents. Even areas not directly under Rome were strongly influenced by the Empire which was the most powerful political and cultural entity for centuries.

Though Romans brought much of their culture, law and customs to the region, the Greek culture and language continued to dominate as well, being another strong cultural factor. The region effectively became the Empire's "bread basket" as the key agricultural producer and as a somewhat of a consolation for egyptians who survived as a culture this long - Ægyptus became by far the most wealthy Roman province and a center of learning.

It's also worth mentioning that to the east of Roman Empire were also two major polities - the Parthian and the Kushan empires. The former represented a constant threat to Rome's eastern boundaries before transitioning into the Sassanid Empire due to internal strife while Kushan would do it's own thing. There is also evidence of Tang [[China]] doing trade with the region and even being aware of Rome. Lastly, starting from the 30s AD - Christianity would see a significant spread from Palestine/Judea though it would not advance much farther east than Euphrates-Tigris border in a significant manner.

After the fragmentation of the Western Roman Empire, the eastern half decided that it really liked the color purple and rebranded itself as...the Roman Empire (Byzantium being an anachronistic modern name but we will roll with it for the sake of convenience). Byzantium continued to trudge along, occupying the western portion of the region and even expanding to reconquer a respectable amount of the former Roman Empire in the 500s though from there it would decline in favour of other powers.

=== Medieval History (500 - 1000) ===
[[image:Bazaar.png|thumb|300px|right|You want it? It's yours sadiq, so long as you have enough gold!]]
In the 5-6th centuries the Middle East was separated into small, weak states loomed over by two vast empires - the Sasanian Empire of the Persians and the Byzantine Empire in Anatolia plus the Levant. The Byzantines and Sasanians dicked with each other as a neat reflection of the rivalry between the Roman and the Persian empires. The Byzantine-Sasanian rivalry was also seen through their respective cultures and religions. The Byzantines were the champions of Hellenism and Christianity while the Sasanians thought themselves heroes of ancient Iranian traditions and of the traditional Persian religion - Zoroastrianism.

Meanwhile, down south we have the Arabian Peninsula which largely was and continued to be a dustbowl of little importance. The nomadic Bedouin tribes dominated the Arabian deserts where they worshiped idols and were organised into small clans based on mutual kinship. There were scant cities and agriculture in Arabia except for Mecca and Medina (then called Yathrib) which were important hubs for trade between Africa and Eurasia with most citizens there being merchants - this all will become important VERY SOON.

Right around 620-30s there arose a new ofshoot of abrahamic religions - Islam, and it would become big, really big. The details on Islam can be found on the respective [[Mythology|page]] or on the other wiki, but the religion blew up FAST and in some 40 years after it's inception managed to conquer whole of Arabia, Persia and vast swathes of Byzantine empire. An interesting thing about Islam is that it's prophet Mohammad was also a military and political leader and while Jesus or Buddha left us general ethical and metaphysical messages, Mohammad was around for a bit longer and proscribed social and political tenets to the faith which gave rise to the concept of a Caliphate - a theocratic social polity that was to be the way to run things. The conquest stopped in the 750s as the new Caliphate ran out of steam and the usual fracturing between successors began after Muhammad was unalived, but Islam had by this time profiled itself as the pre-eminent socio-political and religious force in the Middle East under the various dynasties of the Caliphates.

Shortly after Islam became the dominant religion in Arabia, the Muslim conquests expanded ''very'' rapidly east and west, spreading across all of North Africa and even into southern Europe, where they claimed the entirety of Spain for centuries and besieged large parts of Italy and France. The Byzantines and Franks successfully halted further expansion, but Caliphate still claimed enough territory to rival and eventually supersede the Byzantines. The wealth and power that came with it ensured that the formerly backwater state of Arabia would remain a powerhouse for years to come.

The Arabian islamic vanguard would continue to dominate the newly conquered and islamised lands for the next 300 years. When Muhammad introduced Islam it had a the effect of nearly erasing the other various Middle Eastern cultures, although it also inspired advances in architecture, science, technology, and the formation of a distinct way of life giving it overall a mixed heritage. Islam also created the need for spectacularly built mosques to flex on their Abrahamic siblings which also created a unique form of architecture. Meanwhile, missionaries and warriors worked to forcibly spread the religion from Arabia to North and Sudanic Africa, South and Southeast Asia, and the Mesopotamia area. This created a potent mix of cultures, especially in Africa. Lastly, the "People of the Book" (Christians, Jews, and Zoroastrians) were allowed to live although in second class conditions. This courtesy wasn't extended to members of polytheist religions or Buddhism, with those folks being given the option of convert or die. This period would be disrupted by two events - the arrival of Seljuks/Turks and the Crusades.

=== The Crusades (1000 - 1300) ===
In the 1000's, the Persians (now rebranded as the Seljuks) started some shit with the Byzantines that ultimately ended with them sacking Constantinople. Between the eastern armies crossing the Hellespont and the blocking of pilgrimages into Jerusalem was the last straw for Christendom, and war were declared, whereupon thousands of ambitious princes, mercenaries, fugitives, and fanatics swarmed to Venice, got on boats, and proceeded to invade Jerusalem, intending to take back the Holy Land for Christendom from the Mohammedans.

Individual crusades were met with varied success; the first Crusade successfully caught the Seljuks offguard and led to the creation of the so-called Crusader States, which lasted for about a hundred years. Then an Arab warlord named Saladin who broke off from the Seljuks successfully rallied the people of Egypt and Syria to reclaim Jerusalem; following this, several more crusades were waged by Europe to retake the city, none of which were successful. Several centuries of war ensued, and while the invaders from Europe won the occasional dramatic victory, they were eventually forced away, although it did end any aspirations of Islam forcing its culture upon Europe.

And as the stalwart defenders of Arabia stood on the coast of Palestine, watching the sun set on their retreating enemies, they suddenly heard behind them the cheers and horse hooves of a million GODDAMN MONGOLIANS.

[[image:Constantinople-from-the-entrance-thomas-allom.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Lots of ottomans there, also some Ottomans. ]]

=== Ottoman Period (1300 - 1918) ===
The Ilkhanate hordes of Tulai ultimately were held out of Arabia, although the Seljuks fell to them completely. But as has been established in many other articles featuring the Mongols, they weren't very good at REMAINING Mongol once they ran out of things to put arrows in; in this case they discovered Islam and for once decided that some outsider's religion was actually their kind of thing, probably having to do with a similar bloodthirstiness towards "the other". What succeeded them was the Ottoman empire. Over the next 500 years the Ottomans would largely reunite all of the former Roman territories east of Cisalpine Gaul, into a massive, mostly-Islamic caliphate held together by the Turks, Greeks, and Egyptians that formed its foundation.

The power that held the Ottomans together was the [[Space Marines|Janissaries]]. A Janissary was a Christian male from the Balkan areas of the Empire, forcibly conscripted in youth and forced to convert to Islam (including getting circumcised, since the conscriptees would have been mostly Orthodox), and then subjected to a rigorous military training that made them one of the most elite fighting forces of their time. They were forbidden to marry before forty, but were paid a lifetime salary. Although a brutal system, the resulting army was exceptionally professional, impartial to the empire's many tribes and territories, and utterly loyal to the Sultanate. The net effect of the Janissaries were that the individual animosities of various sects were dampened under Ottoman rule, in favor of the [[Tau|greater greed]] of the Sultanate.

For most of it's life, the Ottoman empire wasn't a terribly bad place to live if you were a Muslim. There was relative peace and prosperity due to flourishing trade as it stood at the crossroads between the Mediterranean and the sea routes to the far east. There was religious freedom as long as taxes were paid (except for non-monotheists) and all the wealth and luxuries of the world to be found in their markets. Interestingly, there were THREE separate, government sanctioned court systems, specifically one system for muslims, another for christians & jews, and the trade courts which handled civil and commercial disputes. The good times ended however when the Europeans discovered that it was slightly cheaper to sail all the fuck way around Africa than to pay Ottoman taxes.

[[image:ModernMiddleEast.jpg|thumb|300px|right|We've come a long way, eh sadiq?]]

=== Modern History (1918 - 20XX) ===
After Ottoman Empire was defeated and WW1 ended, French and Brits decided to screw their own Middle Eastern allies (as usual) and set up their own colonial regimes and puppet states, this was all but codified in the secret Sykes-Picot Agreement which created a bunch of artificial states that would all but guarantee that the region north of Saudi Arabia would remain a socio-political quagmire for many decades to come. Most notable ones are French Syria, British Palestine and Kuwait, as well as marionette Kingdom of Iraq. Saudi Arabia was also formed in that time period from old Arabian peninsula states, while Oman and Yemen became British puppets. This status quo remained all the way up to 1950s, even during WWII (well, if you don't count joint Allied intervention to Iran to prevent it from joining the Axis and get a new safe way for a land-lease, as well as short Iraqi campaign to weed out pro-Hitler Golden Square Party).

During the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s, Syria and Egypt made moves towards independence since the Sick man of Bosphorus was fast dying of anachronism and lack of key reforms. Although the Kingdom of Egypt was technically "neutral" during World War II, Cairo soon became a major military base for the British and the country was occupied. In Palestine, a potent shitstorm was brewing as conflicting forces of Arab nationalism and Zionism created a situation the British could neither resolve nor gtfo from. The rise of Germany's Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party, who the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem told the idea of the Holocaust to, had created a new urgency in the Zionist quest to immigrate to Palestine and create a Jewish state.

The modern Middle East was primarily shaped by three factors - decolonisation as Europe just gave up on the overcomplicated region to deal with issues at home, the founding of the state of Israel with all the "FUN" that entailed, and the growing importance of this stinky slimy substance called oil. A further layer of complexity was added by the new [[Cold War]] order which saw the world's two remaining superpowers - the USA/NATO and USSR/Warsaw Pact take a keen interest in the region due to various opportunities to dick with each other and the region being the largest (then) known source of civilization-driving oil, with the U.S.A. supporting Israel's right to exist, and the Soviets supporting Palestine's wish to drive the Jews into the sea, figuring they could finish off the Jews and have one less religion they'd have to finish off themselves if they could conquer the Middle East.

== Middle Eastern Culture ==

In general, Middle Eastern and Central Asian cultures in the region can be split into Semitic (Hebrew, Syriac, Arab, etc), Iranic (Persian, Farsi, Tajik, Baloch, etc), and Turkic (Azeri, Kazakh, Uzbek, etc) alongside related/historically related groups on the outer edges of the region (such as the Caucasus-inhabiting Armenians or Georgians and the Urdu-Hindi groups in [[India]] in the former case or the Kushans, Scythians, Huns, & Mongols in the latter case). The long history of the region means many of the cultures and ethnic groups have long histories of with each other with both peaceful and violent interactions with each other like in the European Balkans.

== Middle Eastern Religion, Gods and Mythology ==

More than any other region, the Middle East is indelibly linked to the history of monotheism. Greek and Egyptian polytheistic systems coexisted alongside Persian Zoroastrianism and the Abrahamic Hebrew and many other minor sects. All of which were subjugated in the successive conquests of Alexander, and then Rome behind him.

The Romans acted as a great plow, tilling the region and leaving all the minor tribes and faiths fertile for proselytization. And the winner of this great disruption was Abrahamism, which stomped out most of its competitors (ie, the Gnostics). Christianity rose in lockstep with opposition to Roman rule, and then Islam in turn followed it as a response to the void as the empire fell, and finally eastern orthodoxy as the Catholic church began to schism.

By 1100 AD, the following could be said:

* Islam commanded the majority of the region, with the Shia branch being strongest in old Persia and the Sunni being dominant pretty much everywhere else. The Ibadi moderate spinoffs from the Khawarij zeaots who attacked both sides were restricted to Oman with small pockets in the Sahara.
* Eastern Orthodox Christians (in Coptic, Assyrian and Greek flavors) were entrenched as minorities in the old Greek colonies north of Arabia, in Assyrian region (yes, the nation is still there, but is very small now) and in Egypt.
* Zoroastrianism and Judaism were entrenched as minorities all over, with some concentration in their respective homelands of Persia and Jerusalem respectively.
* Polytheism in the Middle East, both in its Egyptian and Hellenistic flavors, was extinct.

== Middle Eastern Magic ==

The Middle East has its fair share of supernatural folklore such as the Djinn, Shedu, Magi, etc. In addition, no thanks to Alexander the Great’s conquest of the region, alongside the long rule of the Diadochi, the Silk Road, and the Mongol invasions, meant that the Central Asian and Middle Eastern region served as a melting pot for ideas to be exchanged and and syncretized. One example being the conflation of Heracles from the Greco-Batrian settlers with the guardian bodhisattva, Vajrapāṇi, in Buddhism. On the other hand, once monotheism became dominant in the Middle East proper, such theological exchanges lessoned out with the focus being on philosophical, economic, and scientific exchanges instead.

==Middle East Analogs in Fantasy==

* [[Araby]] (duh), [[Badlands]] (in geographical sense) and [[Darklands]] (culturally) in [[Warhammer Fantasy Battle]].
* [[Tallarn Desert Raiders]] Regiment of [[Imperial Guard]] in [[Warhammer 40,000]].
* [[Al-Qadim]] campaign setting from [[DnD]]
* Near Harad from [[Lord of the Rings]]
* Prince of Persia series of vidya
* Shaqqislam factions in [[Infinity]]

[[Category: History]]

Middle East

2022-05-04T18:24:14Z

2607:FB90:6FF4:7A06:D087:A795:6215:797A: /* Middle Eastern Magic */

{{skubby}}

[[image:Middle_East.png|thumb|300px|right|A thousand sights, a thousand nights, a thousand years, a thousand tears...]]
{{topquote|They say in the Middle East - a pessimist is simply an optimist with experience.| Ehud Barak}}

The Middle East is a region that broadly spans from [[Egypt]] in the west to [[India]] in the east with northern and southern borders being the Black & Caspian sea and the Arabian Sea respectively. In the middle of all of this is over 6000 years of civilization, at least half-a-dozen awesome and significant cultures, more history than you can shake a...anything at really and also a fuckton of culture, wars and mineable stuff. The importance of the region and it's myriad of cultures has not lessened in the 20th and 21st centuries as the region continues to be, if not exactly influential, then influenced due to the resources and politics going on around it and within it.

Since it is Europe's closest neighbour, the region and it's societies have been interacting with the smorgasbord of Europe's cultures since at least the [[Bronze Age]] so there are a number of analogues of Middle Eastern societies in fantasy and even sci-fi. Dungeons and Dragons has [[Al-Qadim]], [[Lord of the Rings]] has Harad, Game of Thrones has Mereen and so on. And this is not even counting [[Video Games]] either.

== Middle Eastern History ==

The Middle East, being one of the ¨cradles of civilization¨ has metric gigatons of history under it's belt, more than even [[China]] so the sections below will be the broadest overviews by necessity. Still the history van be roughly divided into 4 periods with a number of sub-periods within each. So strap yourself in as we dive into the deep end of history.

=== Ancient History (4000 BC - 500 AD) ===
[[image:Babylon.png|thumb|300px|right|Between the time when the oceans drank Atlantis and the rise of the sons of Aryas, there was an age undreamed of...]]
After the period of various neolithic cultures discovering agriculture, the first human towns and city-states began to form (these could go back to as early as 9000-7000 BC as attested by Catal Huyuk and Jericho). The most prominent cities of this period were Uruk, Babillon, Elam and others. Two civilizations of note arose in this era around 3500 BC - Sumer and Akkad which are famous for their ziggurats (OG pyramids) and for laying the basis for much of civilization in the west since their stuff was picked up by Egyptians, then Greeks and so on. In about 2340 BC Sargon the Great united the various city-states in the south and thus founded the Akkadian dynasty - the world's first empire.

This set a kind of precedent for future powerful empires that would come to rule almost the entire Middle East. After Akkadians, of note are the Assyrian Empires of 1365–1076 BC and the Neo-Assyrian Empire of 911–605 BC. The Assyrian Empire at its peak was the largest the world had yet seen. It ruled all of what is now Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Kuwait, Jordan, [[Egypt]], Cyprus, and Bahrain—with large swathes of Iran, Turkey, Armenia, Georgia, Sudan, and Arabia.

From the early 6th century BC onwards there were several Persian states that dominated the region, beginning with the non-Persian Neo-Babylonian Empire, then their successor the Achaemenid Empire also known as the first Persian Empire. In the 300s BC a gigachad guy called Alexander the Great decided that he wanted to rule the world and so he went ahead and conquered everything from Greece to Egypt all the way to the border of [[India]]. Sadly he died just as he was getting to the process of ruling his mega-empire and in a final moment of chadery he declared that his empire would belong "to the strongest" and within 5 minutes there were a bunch of successor empires like the Seleucids, Bactrians, Ptolemaic [[Egypt]] and others, and virtually all of them had a city called Alexandria but the one in Egypt mattered most.

After Alexander, the various Alexandrian successor states were dicking around with each other, not noticing the big roman-shaped shadow rising in the west. In 66–63 BC the Roman general Pompey got shit done and conquered much of the Middle East in one fell swoop. The Romans united the region into yet another giga-empire and integrated the region with most of Europe and North Africa in terms of politics and economics, not to mention the globalising effect of free transit for imperial citizens and dependents. Even areas not directly under Rome were strongly influenced by the Empire which was the most powerful political and cultural entity for centuries.

Though Romans brought much of their culture, law and customs to the region, the Greek culture and language continued to dominate as well, being another strong cultural factor. The region effectively became the Empire's "bread basket" as the key agricultural producer and as a somewhat of a consolation for egyptians who survived as a culture this long - Ægyptus became by far the most wealthy Roman province and a center of learning.

It's also worth mentioning that to the east of Roman Empire were also two major polities - the Parthian and the Kushan empires. The former represented a constant threat to Rome's eastern boundaries before transitioning into the Sassanid Empire due to internal strife while Kushan would do it's own thing. There is also evidence of Tang [[China]] doing trade with the region and even being aware of Rome. Lastly, starting from the 30s AD - Christianity would see a significant spread from Palestine/Judea though it would not advance much farther east than Euphrates-Tigris border in a significant manner.

After the fragmentation of the Western Roman Empire, the eastern half decided that it really liked the color purple and rebranded itself as...the Roman Empire (Byzantium being an anachronistic modern name but we will roll with it for the sake of convenience). Byzantium continued to trudge along, occupying the western portion of the region and even expanding to reconquer a respectable amount of the former Roman Empire in the 500s though from there it would decline in favour of other powers.

=== Medieval History (500 - 1000) ===
[[image:Bazaar.png|thumb|300px|right|You want it? It's yours sadiq, so long as you have enough gold!]]
In the 5-6th centuries the Middle East was separated into small, weak states loomed over by two vast empires - the Sasanian Empire of the Persians and the Byzantine Empire in Anatolia plus the Levant. The Byzantines and Sasanians dicked with each other as a neat reflection of the rivalry between the Roman and the Persian empires. The Byzantine-Sasanian rivalry was also seen through their respective cultures and religions. The Byzantines were the champions of Hellenism and Christianity while the Sasanians thought themselves heroes of ancient Iranian traditions and of the traditional Persian religion - Zoroastrianism.

Meanwhile, down south we have the Arabian Peninsula which largely was and continued to be a dustbowl of little importance. The nomadic Bedouin tribes dominated the Arabian deserts where they worshiped idols and were organised into small clans based on mutual kinship. There were scant cities and agriculture in Arabia except for Mecca and Medina (then called Yathrib) which were important hubs for trade between Africa and Eurasia with most citizens there being merchants - this all will become important VERY SOON.

Right around 620-30s there arose a new ofshoot of abrahamic religions - Islam, and it would become big, really big. The details on Islam can be found on the respective [[Mythology|page]] or on the other wiki, but the religion blew up FAST and in some 40 years after it's inception managed to conquer whole of Arabia, Persia and vast swathes of Byzantine empire. An interesting thing about Islam is that it's prophet Mohammad was also a military and political leader and while Jesus or Buddha left us general ethical and metaphysical messages, Mohammad was around for a bit longer and proscribed social and political tenets to the faith which gave rise to the concept of a Caliphate - a theocratic social polity that was to be the way to run things. The conquest stopped in the 750s as the new Caliphate ran out of steam and the usual fracturing between successors began after Muhammad was unalived, but Islam had by this time profiled itself as the pre-eminent socio-political and religious force in the Middle East under the various dynasties of the Caliphates.

Shortly after Islam became the dominant religion in Arabia, the Muslim conquests expanded ''very'' rapidly east and west, spreading across all of North Africa and even into southern Europe, where they claimed the entirety of Spain for centuries and besieged large parts of Italy and France. The Byzantines and Franks successfully halted further expansion, but Caliphate still claimed enough territory to rival and eventually supersede the Byzantines. The wealth and power that came with it ensured that the formerly backwater state of Arabia would remain a powerhouse for years to come.

The Arabian islamic vanguard would continue to dominate the newly conquered and islamised lands for the next 300 years. When Muhammad introduced Islam it had a the effect of nearly erasing the other various Middle Eastern cultures, although it also inspired advances in architecture, science, technology, and the formation of a distinct way of life giving it overall a mixed heritage. Islam also created the need for spectacularly built mosques to flex on their Abrahamic siblings which also created a unique form of architecture. Meanwhile, missionaries and warriors worked to forcibly spread the religion from Arabia to North and Sudanic Africa, South and Southeast Asia, and the Mesopotamia area. This created a potent mix of cultures, especially in Africa. Lastly, the "People of the Book" (Christians, Jews, and Zoroastrians) were allowed to live although in second class conditions. This courtesy wasn't extended to members of polytheist religions or Buddhism, with those folks being given the option of convert or die. This period would be disrupted by two events - the arrival of Seljuks/Turks and the Crusades.

=== The Crusades (1000 - 1300) ===
In the 1000's, the Persians (now rebranded as the Seljuks) started some shit with the Byzantines that ultimately ended with them sacking Constantinople. Between the eastern armies crossing the Hellespont and the blocking of pilgrimages into Jerusalem was the last straw for Christendom, and war were declared, whereupon thousands of ambitious princes, mercenaries, fugitives, and fanatics swarmed to Venice, got on boats, and proceeded to invade Jerusalem, intending to take back the Holy Land for Christendom from the Mohammedans.

Individual crusades were met with varied success; the first Crusade successfully caught the Seljuks offguard and led to the creation of the so-called Crusader States, which lasted for about a hundred years. Then an Arab warlord named Saladin who broke off from the Seljuks successfully rallied the people of Egypt and Syria to reclaim Jerusalem; following this, several more crusades were waged by Europe to retake the city, none of which were successful. Several centuries of war ensued, and while the invaders from Europe won the occasional dramatic victory, they were eventually forced away, although it did end any aspirations of Islam forcing its culture upon Europe.

And as the stalwart defenders of Arabia stood on the coast of Palestine, watching the sun set on their retreating enemies, they suddenly heard behind them the cheers and horse hooves of a million GODDAMN MONGOLIANS.

[[image:Constantinople-from-the-entrance-thomas-allom.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Lots of ottomans there, also some Ottomans. ]]

=== Ottoman Period (1300 - 1918) ===
The Ilkhanate hordes of Tulai ultimately were held out of Arabia, although the Seljuks fell to them completely. But as has been established in many other articles featuring the Mongols, they weren't very good at REMAINING Mongol once they ran out of things to put arrows in; in this case they discovered Islam and for once decided that some outsider's religion was actually their kind of thing, probably having to do with a similar bloodthirstiness towards "the other". What succeeded them was the Ottoman empire. Over the next 500 years the Ottomans would largely reunite all of the former Roman territories east of Cisalpine Gaul, into a massive, mostly-Islamic caliphate held together by the Turks, Greeks, and Egyptians that formed its foundation.

The power that held the Ottomans together was the [[Space Marines|Janissaries]]. A Janissary was a Christian male from the Balkan areas of the Empire, forcibly conscripted in youth and forced to convert to Islam (including getting circumcised, since the conscriptees would have been mostly Orthodox), and then subjected to a rigorous military training that made them one of the most elite fighting forces of their time. They were forbidden to marry before forty, but were paid a lifetime salary. Although a brutal system, the resulting army was exceptionally professional, impartial to the empire's many tribes and territories, and utterly loyal to the Sultanate. The net effect of the Janissaries were that the individual animosities of various sects were dampened under Ottoman rule, in favor of the [[Tau|greater greed]] of the Sultanate.

For most of it's life, the Ottoman empire wasn't a terribly bad place to live if you were a Muslim. There was relative peace and prosperity due to flourishing trade as it stood at the crossroads between the Mediterranean and the sea routes to the far east. There was religious freedom as long as taxes were paid (except for non-monotheists) and all the wealth and luxuries of the world to be found in their markets. Interestingly, there were THREE separate, government sanctioned court systems, specifically one system for muslims, another for christians & jews, and the trade courts which handled civil and commercial disputes. The good times ended however when the Europeans discovered that it was slightly cheaper to sail all the fuck way around Africa than to pay Ottoman taxes.

[[image:ModernMiddleEast.jpg|thumb|300px|right|We've come a long way, eh sadiq?]]

=== Modern History (1918 - 20XX) ===
After Ottoman Empire was defeated and WW1 ended, French and Brits decided to screw their own Middle Eastern allies (as usual) and set up their own colonial regimes and puppet states, this was all but codified in the secret Sykes-Picot Agreement which created a bunch of artificial states that would all but guarantee that the region north of Saudi Arabia would remain a socio-political quagmire for many decades to come. Most notable ones are French Syria, British Palestine and Kuwait, as well as marionette Kingdom of Iraq. Saudi Arabia was also formed in that time period from old Arabian peninsula states, while Oman and Yemen became British puppets. This status quo remained all the way up to 1950s, even during WWII (well, if you don't count joint Allied intervention to Iran to prevent it from joining the Axis and get a new safe way for a land-lease, as well as short Iraqi campaign to weed out pro-Hitler Golden Square Party).

During the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s, Syria and Egypt made moves towards independence since the Sick man of Bosphorus was fast dying of anachronism and lack of key reforms. Although the Kingdom of Egypt was technically "neutral" during World War II, Cairo soon became a major military base for the British and the country was occupied. In Palestine, a potent shitstorm was brewing as conflicting forces of Arab nationalism and Zionism created a situation the British could neither resolve nor gtfo from. The rise of Germany's Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party, who the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem told the idea of the Holocaust to, had created a new urgency in the Zionist quest to immigrate to Palestine and create a Jewish state.

The modern Middle East was primarily shaped by three factors - decolonisation as Europe just gave up on the overcomplicated region to deal with issues at home, the founding of the state of Israel with all the "FUN" that entailed, and the growing importance of this stinky slimy substance called oil. A further layer of complexity was added by the new [[Cold War]] order which saw the world's two remaining superpowers - the USA/NATO and USSR/Warsaw Pact take a keen interest in the region due to various opportunities to dick with each other and the region being the largest (then) known source of civilization-driving oil, with the U.S.A. supporting Israel's right to exist, and the Soviets supporting Palestine's wish to drive the Jews into the sea, figuring they could finish off the Jews and have one less religion they'd have to finish off themselves if they could conquer the Middle East.

== Middle Eastern Culture ==

In general, Middle Eastern and Central Asian cultures in the region can be split into Semitic (Hebrew, Syriac, Arab, etc), Iranic (Persian, Farsi, Tajik, Baloch, etc), and Turkic (Azeri, Kazakh, Uzbek, etc) alongside related/historically related groups on the outer edges of the region (such as the Caucasus-inhabiting Armenians or Georgians and the Urdu-Hindi groups in [[India]] in the former case or the Kushans, Scythians, Huns, & Mongols in the latter case). The long history of the region means many of the cultures and ethnic groups have long histories of with each other with both peaceful and violent interactions with each other like in the European Balkans.

== Middle Eastern Religion, Gods and Mythology ==

More than any other region, the Middle East is indelibly linked to the history of monotheism. Greek and Egyptian polytheistic systems coexisted alongside Persian Zoroastrianism and the Abrahamic Hebrew and many other minor sects. All of which were subjugated in the successive conquests of Alexander, and then Rome behind him.

The Romans acted as a great plow, tilling the region and leaving all the minor tribes and faiths fertile for proselytization. And the winner of this great disruption was Abrahamism, which stomped out most of its competitors (ie, the Gnostics). Christianity rose in lockstep with opposition to Roman rule, and then Islam in turn followed it as a response to the void as the empire fell, and finally eastern orthodoxy as the Catholic church began to schism.

By 1100 AD, the following could be said:

* Islam commanded the majority of the region, with the Shia branch being strongest in old Persia and the Sunni being dominant pretty much everywhere else.
* Eastern Orthodox Christians (in Coptic, Assyrian and Greek flavors) were entrenched as minorities in the old Greek colonies north of Arabia, in Assyrian region (yes, the nation is still there, but is very small now) and in Egypt. The Ibadi moderate spinoffs from the Khawarij were restricted to Oman with small pockets in the Sahara.
* Zoroastrianism and Judaism were entrenched as minorities all over, with some concentration in their respective homelands of Persia and Jerusalem respectively.
* Polytheism in the Middle East, both in its Egyptian and Hellenistic flavors, was extinct.

== Middle Eastern Magic ==

The Middle East has its fair share of supernatural folklore such as the Djinn, Shedu, Magi, etc. In addition, no thanks to Alexander the Great’s conquest of the region, alongside the long rule of the Diadochi, the Silk Road, and the Mongol invasions, meant that the Central Asian and Middle Eastern region served as a melting pot for ideas to be exchanged and and syncretized. One example being the conflation of Heracles from the Greco-Batrian settlers with the guardian bodhisattva, Vajrapāṇi, in Buddhism. On the other hand, once monotheism became dominant in the Middle East proper, such theological exchanges lessoned out with the focus being on philosophical, economic, and scientific exchanges instead.

==Middle East Analogs in Fantasy==

* [[Araby]] (duh), [[Badlands]] (in geographical sense) and [[Darklands]] (culturally) in [[Warhammer Fantasy Battle]].
* [[Tallarn Desert Raiders]] Regiment of [[Imperial Guard]] in [[Warhammer 40,000]].
* [[Al-Qadim]] campaign setting from [[DnD]]
* Near Harad from [[Lord of the Rings]]
* Prince of Persia series of vidya
* Shaqqislam factions in [[Infinity]]

[[Category: History]]

Middle East

2022-05-04T18:23:57Z

2607:FB90:6FF4:7A06:D087:A795:6215:797A: /* Middle Eastern Magic */

{{skubby}}

[[image:Middle_East.png|thumb|300px|right|A thousand sights, a thousand nights, a thousand years, a thousand tears...]]
{{topquote|They say in the Middle East - a pessimist is simply an optimist with experience.| Ehud Barak}}

The Middle East is a region that broadly spans from [[Egypt]] in the west to [[India]] in the east with northern and southern borders being the Black & Caspian sea and the Arabian Sea respectively. In the middle of all of this is over 6000 years of civilization, at least half-a-dozen awesome and significant cultures, more history than you can shake a...anything at really and also a fuckton of culture, wars and mineable stuff. The importance of the region and it's myriad of cultures has not lessened in the 20th and 21st centuries as the region continues to be, if not exactly influential, then influenced due to the resources and politics going on around it and within it.

Since it is Europe's closest neighbour, the region and it's societies have been interacting with the smorgasbord of Europe's cultures since at least the [[Bronze Age]] so there are a number of analogues of Middle Eastern societies in fantasy and even sci-fi. Dungeons and Dragons has [[Al-Qadim]], [[Lord of the Rings]] has Harad, Game of Thrones has Mereen and so on. And this is not even counting [[Video Games]] either.

== Middle Eastern History ==

The Middle East, being one of the ¨cradles of civilization¨ has metric gigatons of history under it's belt, more than even [[China]] so the sections below will be the broadest overviews by necessity. Still the history van be roughly divided into 4 periods with a number of sub-periods within each. So strap yourself in as we dive into the deep end of history.

=== Ancient History (4000 BC - 500 AD) ===
[[image:Babylon.png|thumb|300px|right|Between the time when the oceans drank Atlantis and the rise of the sons of Aryas, there was an age undreamed of...]]
After the period of various neolithic cultures discovering agriculture, the first human towns and city-states began to form (these could go back to as early as 9000-7000 BC as attested by Catal Huyuk and Jericho). The most prominent cities of this period were Uruk, Babillon, Elam and others. Two civilizations of note arose in this era around 3500 BC - Sumer and Akkad which are famous for their ziggurats (OG pyramids) and for laying the basis for much of civilization in the west since their stuff was picked up by Egyptians, then Greeks and so on. In about 2340 BC Sargon the Great united the various city-states in the south and thus founded the Akkadian dynasty - the world's first empire.

This set a kind of precedent for future powerful empires that would come to rule almost the entire Middle East. After Akkadians, of note are the Assyrian Empires of 1365–1076 BC and the Neo-Assyrian Empire of 911–605 BC. The Assyrian Empire at its peak was the largest the world had yet seen. It ruled all of what is now Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Kuwait, Jordan, [[Egypt]], Cyprus, and Bahrain—with large swathes of Iran, Turkey, Armenia, Georgia, Sudan, and Arabia.

From the early 6th century BC onwards there were several Persian states that dominated the region, beginning with the non-Persian Neo-Babylonian Empire, then their successor the Achaemenid Empire also known as the first Persian Empire. In the 300s BC a gigachad guy called Alexander the Great decided that he wanted to rule the world and so he went ahead and conquered everything from Greece to Egypt all the way to the border of [[India]]. Sadly he died just as he was getting to the process of ruling his mega-empire and in a final moment of chadery he declared that his empire would belong "to the strongest" and within 5 minutes there were a bunch of successor empires like the Seleucids, Bactrians, Ptolemaic [[Egypt]] and others, and virtually all of them had a city called Alexandria but the one in Egypt mattered most.

After Alexander, the various Alexandrian successor states were dicking around with each other, not noticing the big roman-shaped shadow rising in the west. In 66–63 BC the Roman general Pompey got shit done and conquered much of the Middle East in one fell swoop. The Romans united the region into yet another giga-empire and integrated the region with most of Europe and North Africa in terms of politics and economics, not to mention the globalising effect of free transit for imperial citizens and dependents. Even areas not directly under Rome were strongly influenced by the Empire which was the most powerful political and cultural entity for centuries.

Though Romans brought much of their culture, law and customs to the region, the Greek culture and language continued to dominate as well, being another strong cultural factor. The region effectively became the Empire's "bread basket" as the key agricultural producer and as a somewhat of a consolation for egyptians who survived as a culture this long - Ægyptus became by far the most wealthy Roman province and a center of learning.

It's also worth mentioning that to the east of Roman Empire were also two major polities - the Parthian and the Kushan empires. The former represented a constant threat to Rome's eastern boundaries before transitioning into the Sassanid Empire due to internal strife while Kushan would do it's own thing. There is also evidence of Tang [[China]] doing trade with the region and even being aware of Rome. Lastly, starting from the 30s AD - Christianity would see a significant spread from Palestine/Judea though it would not advance much farther east than Euphrates-Tigris border in a significant manner.

After the fragmentation of the Western Roman Empire, the eastern half decided that it really liked the color purple and rebranded itself as...the Roman Empire (Byzantium being an anachronistic modern name but we will roll with it for the sake of convenience). Byzantium continued to trudge along, occupying the western portion of the region and even expanding to reconquer a respectable amount of the former Roman Empire in the 500s though from there it would decline in favour of other powers.

=== Medieval History (500 - 1000) ===
[[image:Bazaar.png|thumb|300px|right|You want it? It's yours sadiq, so long as you have enough gold!]]
In the 5-6th centuries the Middle East was separated into small, weak states loomed over by two vast empires - the Sasanian Empire of the Persians and the Byzantine Empire in Anatolia plus the Levant. The Byzantines and Sasanians dicked with each other as a neat reflection of the rivalry between the Roman and the Persian empires. The Byzantine-Sasanian rivalry was also seen through their respective cultures and religions. The Byzantines were the champions of Hellenism and Christianity while the Sasanians thought themselves heroes of ancient Iranian traditions and of the traditional Persian religion - Zoroastrianism.

Meanwhile, down south we have the Arabian Peninsula which largely was and continued to be a dustbowl of little importance. The nomadic Bedouin tribes dominated the Arabian deserts where they worshiped idols and were organised into small clans based on mutual kinship. There were scant cities and agriculture in Arabia except for Mecca and Medina (then called Yathrib) which were important hubs for trade between Africa and Eurasia with most citizens there being merchants - this all will become important VERY SOON.

Right around 620-30s there arose a new ofshoot of abrahamic religions - Islam, and it would become big, really big. The details on Islam can be found on the respective [[Mythology|page]] or on the other wiki, but the religion blew up FAST and in some 40 years after it's inception managed to conquer whole of Arabia, Persia and vast swathes of Byzantine empire. An interesting thing about Islam is that it's prophet Mohammad was also a military and political leader and while Jesus or Buddha left us general ethical and metaphysical messages, Mohammad was around for a bit longer and proscribed social and political tenets to the faith which gave rise to the concept of a Caliphate - a theocratic social polity that was to be the way to run things. The conquest stopped in the 750s as the new Caliphate ran out of steam and the usual fracturing between successors began after Muhammad was unalived, but Islam had by this time profiled itself as the pre-eminent socio-political and religious force in the Middle East under the various dynasties of the Caliphates.

Shortly after Islam became the dominant religion in Arabia, the Muslim conquests expanded ''very'' rapidly east and west, spreading across all of North Africa and even into southern Europe, where they claimed the entirety of Spain for centuries and besieged large parts of Italy and France. The Byzantines and Franks successfully halted further expansion, but Caliphate still claimed enough territory to rival and eventually supersede the Byzantines. The wealth and power that came with it ensured that the formerly backwater state of Arabia would remain a powerhouse for years to come.

The Arabian islamic vanguard would continue to dominate the newly conquered and islamised lands for the next 300 years. When Muhammad introduced Islam it had a the effect of nearly erasing the other various Middle Eastern cultures, although it also inspired advances in architecture, science, technology, and the formation of a distinct way of life giving it overall a mixed heritage. Islam also created the need for spectacularly built mosques to flex on their Abrahamic siblings which also created a unique form of architecture. Meanwhile, missionaries and warriors worked to forcibly spread the religion from Arabia to North and Sudanic Africa, South and Southeast Asia, and the Mesopotamia area. This created a potent mix of cultures, especially in Africa. Lastly, the "People of the Book" (Christians, Jews, and Zoroastrians) were allowed to live although in second class conditions. This courtesy wasn't extended to members of polytheist religions or Buddhism, with those folks being given the option of convert or die. This period would be disrupted by two events - the arrival of Seljuks/Turks and the Crusades.

=== The Crusades (1000 - 1300) ===
In the 1000's, the Persians (now rebranded as the Seljuks) started some shit with the Byzantines that ultimately ended with them sacking Constantinople. Between the eastern armies crossing the Hellespont and the blocking of pilgrimages into Jerusalem was the last straw for Christendom, and war were declared, whereupon thousands of ambitious princes, mercenaries, fugitives, and fanatics swarmed to Venice, got on boats, and proceeded to invade Jerusalem, intending to take back the Holy Land for Christendom from the Mohammedans.

Individual crusades were met with varied success; the first Crusade successfully caught the Seljuks offguard and led to the creation of the so-called Crusader States, which lasted for about a hundred years. Then an Arab warlord named Saladin who broke off from the Seljuks successfully rallied the people of Egypt and Syria to reclaim Jerusalem; following this, several more crusades were waged by Europe to retake the city, none of which were successful. Several centuries of war ensued, and while the invaders from Europe won the occasional dramatic victory, they were eventually forced away, although it did end any aspirations of Islam forcing its culture upon Europe.

And as the stalwart defenders of Arabia stood on the coast of Palestine, watching the sun set on their retreating enemies, they suddenly heard behind them the cheers and horse hooves of a million GODDAMN MONGOLIANS.

[[image:Constantinople-from-the-entrance-thomas-allom.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Lots of ottomans there, also some Ottomans. ]]

=== Ottoman Period (1300 - 1918) ===
The Ilkhanate hordes of Tulai ultimately were held out of Arabia, although the Seljuks fell to them completely. But as has been established in many other articles featuring the Mongols, they weren't very good at REMAINING Mongol once they ran out of things to put arrows in; in this case they discovered Islam and for once decided that some outsider's religion was actually their kind of thing, probably having to do with a similar bloodthirstiness towards "the other". What succeeded them was the Ottoman empire. Over the next 500 years the Ottomans would largely reunite all of the former Roman territories east of Cisalpine Gaul, into a massive, mostly-Islamic caliphate held together by the Turks, Greeks, and Egyptians that formed its foundation.

The power that held the Ottomans together was the [[Space Marines|Janissaries]]. A Janissary was a Christian male from the Balkan areas of the Empire, forcibly conscripted in youth and forced to convert to Islam (including getting circumcised, since the conscriptees would have been mostly Orthodox), and then subjected to a rigorous military training that made them one of the most elite fighting forces of their time. They were forbidden to marry before forty, but were paid a lifetime salary. Although a brutal system, the resulting army was exceptionally professional, impartial to the empire's many tribes and territories, and utterly loyal to the Sultanate. The net effect of the Janissaries were that the individual animosities of various sects were dampened under Ottoman rule, in favor of the [[Tau|greater greed]] of the Sultanate.

For most of it's life, the Ottoman empire wasn't a terribly bad place to live if you were a Muslim. There was relative peace and prosperity due to flourishing trade as it stood at the crossroads between the Mediterranean and the sea routes to the far east. There was religious freedom as long as taxes were paid (except for non-monotheists) and all the wealth and luxuries of the world to be found in their markets. Interestingly, there were THREE separate, government sanctioned court systems, specifically one system for muslims, another for christians & jews, and the trade courts which handled civil and commercial disputes. The good times ended however when the Europeans discovered that it was slightly cheaper to sail all the fuck way around Africa than to pay Ottoman taxes.

[[image:ModernMiddleEast.jpg|thumb|300px|right|We've come a long way, eh sadiq?]]

=== Modern History (1918 - 20XX) ===
After Ottoman Empire was defeated and WW1 ended, French and Brits decided to screw their own Middle Eastern allies (as usual) and set up their own colonial regimes and puppet states, this was all but codified in the secret Sykes-Picot Agreement which created a bunch of artificial states that would all but guarantee that the region north of Saudi Arabia would remain a socio-political quagmire for many decades to come. Most notable ones are French Syria, British Palestine and Kuwait, as well as marionette Kingdom of Iraq. Saudi Arabia was also formed in that time period from old Arabian peninsula states, while Oman and Yemen became British puppets. This status quo remained all the way up to 1950s, even during WWII (well, if you don't count joint Allied intervention to Iran to prevent it from joining the Axis and get a new safe way for a land-lease, as well as short Iraqi campaign to weed out pro-Hitler Golden Square Party).

During the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s, Syria and Egypt made moves towards independence since the Sick man of Bosphorus was fast dying of anachronism and lack of key reforms. Although the Kingdom of Egypt was technically "neutral" during World War II, Cairo soon became a major military base for the British and the country was occupied. In Palestine, a potent shitstorm was brewing as conflicting forces of Arab nationalism and Zionism created a situation the British could neither resolve nor gtfo from. The rise of Germany's Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party, who the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem told the idea of the Holocaust to, had created a new urgency in the Zionist quest to immigrate to Palestine and create a Jewish state.

The modern Middle East was primarily shaped by three factors - decolonisation as Europe just gave up on the overcomplicated region to deal with issues at home, the founding of the state of Israel with all the "FUN" that entailed, and the growing importance of this stinky slimy substance called oil. A further layer of complexity was added by the new [[Cold War]] order which saw the world's two remaining superpowers - the USA/NATO and USSR/Warsaw Pact take a keen interest in the region due to various opportunities to dick with each other and the region being the largest (then) known source of civilization-driving oil, with the U.S.A. supporting Israel's right to exist, and the Soviets supporting Palestine's wish to drive the Jews into the sea, figuring they could finish off the Jews and have one less religion they'd have to finish off themselves if they could conquer the Middle East.

== Middle Eastern Culture ==

In general, Middle Eastern and Central Asian cultures in the region can be split into Semitic (Hebrew, Syriac, Arab, etc), Iranic (Persian, Farsi, Tajik, Baloch, etc), and Turkic (Azeri, Kazakh, Uzbek, etc) alongside related/historically related groups on the outer edges of the region (such as the Caucasus-inhabiting Armenians or Georgians and the Urdu-Hindi groups in [[India]] in the former case or the Kushans, Scythians, Huns, & Mongols in the latter case). The long history of the region means many of the cultures and ethnic groups have long histories of with each other with both peaceful and violent interactions with each other like in the European Balkans.

== Middle Eastern Religion, Gods and Mythology ==

More than any other region, the Middle East is indelibly linked to the history of monotheism. Greek and Egyptian polytheistic systems coexisted alongside Persian Zoroastrianism and the Abrahamic Hebrew and many other minor sects. All of which were subjugated in the successive conquests of Alexander, and then Rome behind him.

The Romans acted as a great plow, tilling the region and leaving all the minor tribes and faiths fertile for proselytization. And the winner of this great disruption was Abrahamism, which stomped out most of its competitors (ie, the Gnostics). Christianity rose in lockstep with opposition to Roman rule, and then Islam in turn followed it as a response to the void as the empire fell, and finally eastern orthodoxy as the Catholic church began to schism.

By 1100 AD, the following could be said:

* Islam commanded the majority of the region, with the Shia branch being strongest in old Persia and the Sunni being dominant pretty much everywhere else.
* Eastern Orthodox Christians (in Coptic, Assyrian and Greek flavors) were entrenched as minorities in the old Greek colonies north of Arabia, in Assyrian region (yes, the nation is still there, but is very small now) and in Egypt. The Ibadi moderate spinoffs from the Khawarij were restricted to Oman with small pockets in the Sahara.
* Zoroastrianism and Judaism were entrenched as minorities all over, with some concentration in their respective homelands of Persia and Jerusalem respectively.
* Polytheism in the Middle East, both in its Egyptian and Hellenistic flavors, was extinct.

== Middle Eastern Magic ==

The Middle East has its fair share of supernatural folklore such as the Djinn, Shedu, Magi, etc. In addition, no thanks to Alexander the Great’s conquest of the region, alongside the long rule of the Diadochi, the Silk Road, and the Mongol invasions, meant that the Central Asian and Middle Eastern region served as a melting pot for ideas to be exchanged and and syncretized. One example being the conflation of Heracles from the Greco-Batrian settlers with the guardian bodhisattva, Vajrapāṇi. On the other hand, once monotheism became dominant in the Middle East proper, such theological exchanges lessoned out with the focus being on philosophical, economic, and scientific exchanges instead.

==Middle East Analogs in Fantasy==

* [[Araby]] (duh), [[Badlands]] (in geographical sense) and [[Darklands]] (culturally) in [[Warhammer Fantasy Battle]].
* [[Tallarn Desert Raiders]] Regiment of [[Imperial Guard]] in [[Warhammer 40,000]].
* [[Al-Qadim]] campaign setting from [[DnD]]
* Near Harad from [[Lord of the Rings]]
* Prince of Persia series of vidya
* Shaqqislam factions in [[Infinity]]

[[Category: History]]

Middle East

2022-05-04T18:16:58Z

2607:FB90:6FF4:7A06:D087:A795:6215:797A: /* Middle Eastern Culture */

{{skubby}}

[[image:Middle_East.png|thumb|300px|right|A thousand sights, a thousand nights, a thousand years, a thousand tears...]]
{{topquote|They say in the Middle East - a pessimist is simply an optimist with experience.| Ehud Barak}}

The Middle East is a region that broadly spans from [[Egypt]] in the west to [[India]] in the east with northern and southern borders being the Black & Caspian sea and the Arabian Sea respectively. In the middle of all of this is over 6000 years of civilization, at least half-a-dozen awesome and significant cultures, more history than you can shake a...anything at really and also a fuckton of culture, wars and mineable stuff. The importance of the region and it's myriad of cultures has not lessened in the 20th and 21st centuries as the region continues to be, if not exactly influential, then influenced due to the resources and politics going on around it and within it.

Since it is Europe's closest neighbour, the region and it's societies have been interacting with the smorgasbord of Europe's cultures since at least the [[Bronze Age]] so there are a number of analogues of Middle Eastern societies in fantasy and even sci-fi. Dungeons and Dragons has [[Al-Qadim]], [[Lord of the Rings]] has Harad, Game of Thrones has Mereen and so on. And this is not even counting [[Video Games]] either.

== Middle Eastern History ==

The Middle East, being one of the ¨cradles of civilization¨ has metric gigatons of history under it's belt, more than even [[China]] so the sections below will be the broadest overviews by necessity. Still the history van be roughly divided into 4 periods with a number of sub-periods within each. So strap yourself in as we dive into the deep end of history.

=== Ancient History (4000 BC - 500 AD) ===
[[image:Babylon.png|thumb|300px|right|Between the time when the oceans drank Atlantis and the rise of the sons of Aryas, there was an age undreamed of...]]
After the period of various neolithic cultures discovering agriculture, the first human towns and city-states began to form (these could go back to as early as 9000-7000 BC as attested by Catal Huyuk and Jericho). The most prominent cities of this period were Uruk, Babillon, Elam and others. Two civilizations of note arose in this era around 3500 BC - Sumer and Akkad which are famous for their ziggurats (OG pyramids) and for laying the basis for much of civilization in the west since their stuff was picked up by Egyptians, then Greeks and so on. In about 2340 BC Sargon the Great united the various city-states in the south and thus founded the Akkadian dynasty - the world's first empire.

This set a kind of precedent for future powerful empires that would come to rule almost the entire Middle East. After Akkadians, of note are the Assyrian Empires of 1365–1076 BC and the Neo-Assyrian Empire of 911–605 BC. The Assyrian Empire at its peak was the largest the world had yet seen. It ruled all of what is now Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Kuwait, Jordan, [[Egypt]], Cyprus, and Bahrain—with large swathes of Iran, Turkey, Armenia, Georgia, Sudan, and Arabia.

From the early 6th century BC onwards there were several Persian states that dominated the region, beginning with the non-Persian Neo-Babylonian Empire, then their successor the Achaemenid Empire also known as the first Persian Empire. In the 300s BC a gigachad guy called Alexander the Great decided that he wanted to rule the world and so he went ahead and conquered everything from Greece to Egypt all the way to the border of [[India]]. Sadly he died just as he was getting to the process of ruling his mega-empire and in a final moment of chadery he declared that his empire would belong "to the strongest" and within 5 minutes there were a bunch of successor empires like the Seleucids, Bactrians, Ptolemaic [[Egypt]] and others, and virtually all of them had a city called Alexandria but the one in Egypt mattered most.

After Alexander, the various Alexandrian successor states were dicking around with each other, not noticing the big roman-shaped shadow rising in the west. In 66–63 BC the Roman general Pompey got shit done and conquered much of the Middle East in one fell swoop. The Romans united the region into yet another giga-empire and integrated the region with most of Europe and North Africa in terms of politics and economics, not to mention the globalising effect of free transit for imperial citizens and dependents. Even areas not directly under Rome were strongly influenced by the Empire which was the most powerful political and cultural entity for centuries.

Though Romans brought much of their culture, law and customs to the region, the Greek culture and language continued to dominate as well, being another strong cultural factor. The region effectively became the Empire's "bread basket" as the key agricultural producer and as a somewhat of a consolation for egyptians who survived as a culture this long - Ægyptus became by far the most wealthy Roman province and a center of learning.

It's also worth mentioning that to the east of Roman Empire were also two major polities - the Parthian and the Kushan empires. The former represented a constant threat to Rome's eastern boundaries before transitioning into the Sassanid Empire due to internal strife while Kushan would do it's own thing. There is also evidence of Tang [[China]] doing trade with the region and even being aware of Rome. Lastly, starting from the 30s AD - Christianity would see a significant spread from Palestine/Judea though it would not advance much farther east than Euphrates-Tigris border in a significant manner.

After the fragmentation of the Western Roman Empire, the eastern half decided that it really liked the color purple and rebranded itself as...the Roman Empire (Byzantium being an anachronistic modern name but we will roll with it for the sake of convenience). Byzantium continued to trudge along, occupying the western portion of the region and even expanding to reconquer a respectable amount of the former Roman Empire in the 500s though from there it would decline in favour of other powers.

=== Medieval History (500 - 1000) ===
[[image:Bazaar.png|thumb|300px|right|You want it? It's yours sadiq, so long as you have enough gold!]]
In the 5-6th centuries the Middle East was separated into small, weak states loomed over by two vast empires - the Sasanian Empire of the Persians and the Byzantine Empire in Anatolia plus the Levant. The Byzantines and Sasanians dicked with each other as a neat reflection of the rivalry between the Roman and the Persian empires. The Byzantine-Sasanian rivalry was also seen through their respective cultures and religions. The Byzantines were the champions of Hellenism and Christianity while the Sasanians thought themselves heroes of ancient Iranian traditions and of the traditional Persian religion - Zoroastrianism.

Meanwhile, down south we have the Arabian Peninsula which largely was and continued to be a dustbowl of little importance. The nomadic Bedouin tribes dominated the Arabian deserts where they worshiped idols and were organised into small clans based on mutual kinship. There were scant cities and agriculture in Arabia except for Mecca and Medina (then called Yathrib) which were important hubs for trade between Africa and Eurasia with most citizens there being merchants - this all will become important VERY SOON.

Right around 620-30s there arose a new ofshoot of abrahamic religions - Islam, and it would become big, really big. The details on Islam can be found on the respective [[Mythology|page]] or on the other wiki, but the religion blew up FAST and in some 40 years after it's inception managed to conquer whole of Arabia, Persia and vast swathes of Byzantine empire. An interesting thing about Islam is that it's prophet Mohammad was also a military and political leader and while Jesus or Buddha left us general ethical and metaphysical messages, Mohammad was around for a bit longer and proscribed social and political tenets to the faith which gave rise to the concept of a Caliphate - a theocratic social polity that was to be the way to run things. The conquest stopped in the 750s as the new Caliphate ran out of steam and the usual fracturing between successors began after Muhammad was unalived, but Islam had by this time profiled itself as the pre-eminent socio-political and religious force in the Middle East under the various dynasties of the Caliphates.

Shortly after Islam became the dominant religion in Arabia, the Muslim conquests expanded ''very'' rapidly east and west, spreading across all of North Africa and even into southern Europe, where they claimed the entirety of Spain for centuries and besieged large parts of Italy and France. The Byzantines and Franks successfully halted further expansion, but Caliphate still claimed enough territory to rival and eventually supersede the Byzantines. The wealth and power that came with it ensured that the formerly backwater state of Arabia would remain a powerhouse for years to come.

The Arabian islamic vanguard would continue to dominate the newly conquered and islamised lands for the next 300 years. When Muhammad introduced Islam it had a the effect of nearly erasing the other various Middle Eastern cultures, although it also inspired advances in architecture, science, technology, and the formation of a distinct way of life giving it overall a mixed heritage. Islam also created the need for spectacularly built mosques to flex on their Abrahamic siblings which also created a unique form of architecture. Meanwhile, missionaries and warriors worked to forcibly spread the religion from Arabia to North and Sudanic Africa, South and Southeast Asia, and the Mesopotamia area. This created a potent mix of cultures, especially in Africa. Lastly, the "People of the Book" (Christians, Jews, and Zoroastrians) were allowed to live although in second class conditions. This courtesy wasn't extended to members of polytheist religions or Buddhism, with those folks being given the option of convert or die. This period would be disrupted by two events - the arrival of Seljuks/Turks and the Crusades.

=== The Crusades (1000 - 1300) ===
In the 1000's, the Persians (now rebranded as the Seljuks) started some shit with the Byzantines that ultimately ended with them sacking Constantinople. Between the eastern armies crossing the Hellespont and the blocking of pilgrimages into Jerusalem was the last straw for Christendom, and war were declared, whereupon thousands of ambitious princes, mercenaries, fugitives, and fanatics swarmed to Venice, got on boats, and proceeded to invade Jerusalem, intending to take back the Holy Land for Christendom from the Mohammedans.

Individual crusades were met with varied success; the first Crusade successfully caught the Seljuks offguard and led to the creation of the so-called Crusader States, which lasted for about a hundred years. Then an Arab warlord named Saladin who broke off from the Seljuks successfully rallied the people of Egypt and Syria to reclaim Jerusalem; following this, several more crusades were waged by Europe to retake the city, none of which were successful. Several centuries of war ensued, and while the invaders from Europe won the occasional dramatic victory, they were eventually forced away, although it did end any aspirations of Islam forcing its culture upon Europe.

And as the stalwart defenders of Arabia stood on the coast of Palestine, watching the sun set on their retreating enemies, they suddenly heard behind them the cheers and horse hooves of a million GODDAMN MONGOLIANS.

[[image:Constantinople-from-the-entrance-thomas-allom.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Lots of ottomans there, also some Ottomans. ]]

=== Ottoman Period (1300 - 1918) ===
The Ilkhanate hordes of Tulai ultimately were held out of Arabia, although the Seljuks fell to them completely. But as has been established in many other articles featuring the Mongols, they weren't very good at REMAINING Mongol once they ran out of things to put arrows in; in this case they discovered Islam and for once decided that some outsider's religion was actually their kind of thing, probably having to do with a similar bloodthirstiness towards "the other". What succeeded them was the Ottoman empire. Over the next 500 years the Ottomans would largely reunite all of the former Roman territories east of Cisalpine Gaul, into a massive, mostly-Islamic caliphate held together by the Turks, Greeks, and Egyptians that formed its foundation.

The power that held the Ottomans together was the [[Space Marines|Janissaries]]. A Janissary was a Christian male from the Balkan areas of the Empire, forcibly conscripted in youth and forced to convert to Islam (including getting circumcised, since the conscriptees would have been mostly Orthodox), and then subjected to a rigorous military training that made them one of the most elite fighting forces of their time. They were forbidden to marry before forty, but were paid a lifetime salary. Although a brutal system, the resulting army was exceptionally professional, impartial to the empire's many tribes and territories, and utterly loyal to the Sultanate. The net effect of the Janissaries were that the individual animosities of various sects were dampened under Ottoman rule, in favor of the [[Tau|greater greed]] of the Sultanate.

For most of it's life, the Ottoman empire wasn't a terribly bad place to live if you were a Muslim. There was relative peace and prosperity due to flourishing trade as it stood at the crossroads between the Mediterranean and the sea routes to the far east. There was religious freedom as long as taxes were paid (except for non-monotheists) and all the wealth and luxuries of the world to be found in their markets. Interestingly, there were THREE separate, government sanctioned court systems, specifically one system for muslims, another for christians & jews, and the trade courts which handled civil and commercial disputes. The good times ended however when the Europeans discovered that it was slightly cheaper to sail all the fuck way around Africa than to pay Ottoman taxes.

[[image:ModernMiddleEast.jpg|thumb|300px|right|We've come a long way, eh sadiq?]]

=== Modern History (1918 - 20XX) ===
After Ottoman Empire was defeated and WW1 ended, French and Brits decided to screw their own Middle Eastern allies (as usual) and set up their own colonial regimes and puppet states, this was all but codified in the secret Sykes-Picot Agreement which created a bunch of artificial states that would all but guarantee that the region north of Saudi Arabia would remain a socio-political quagmire for many decades to come. Most notable ones are French Syria, British Palestine and Kuwait, as well as marionette Kingdom of Iraq. Saudi Arabia was also formed in that time period from old Arabian peninsula states, while Oman and Yemen became British puppets. This status quo remained all the way up to 1950s, even during WWII (well, if you don't count joint Allied intervention to Iran to prevent it from joining the Axis and get a new safe way for a land-lease, as well as short Iraqi campaign to weed out pro-Hitler Golden Square Party).

During the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s, Syria and Egypt made moves towards independence since the Sick man of Bosphorus was fast dying of anachronism and lack of key reforms. Although the Kingdom of Egypt was technically "neutral" during World War II, Cairo soon became a major military base for the British and the country was occupied. In Palestine, a potent shitstorm was brewing as conflicting forces of Arab nationalism and Zionism created a situation the British could neither resolve nor gtfo from. The rise of Germany's Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party, who the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem told the idea of the Holocaust to, had created a new urgency in the Zionist quest to immigrate to Palestine and create a Jewish state.

The modern Middle East was primarily shaped by three factors - decolonisation as Europe just gave up on the overcomplicated region to deal with issues at home, the founding of the state of Israel with all the "FUN" that entailed, and the growing importance of this stinky slimy substance called oil. A further layer of complexity was added by the new [[Cold War]] order which saw the world's two remaining superpowers - the USA/NATO and USSR/Warsaw Pact take a keen interest in the region due to various opportunities to dick with each other and the region being the largest (then) known source of civilization-driving oil, with the U.S.A. supporting Israel's right to exist, and the Soviets supporting Palestine's wish to drive the Jews into the sea, figuring they could finish off the Jews and have one less religion they'd have to finish off themselves if they could conquer the Middle East.

== Middle Eastern Culture ==

In general, Middle Eastern and Central Asian cultures in the region can be split into Semitic (Hebrew, Syriac, Arab, etc), Iranic (Persian, Farsi, Tajik, Baloch, etc), and Turkic (Azeri, Kazakh, Uzbek, etc) alongside related/historically related groups on the outer edges of the region (such as the Caucasus-inhabiting Armenians or Georgians and the Urdu-Hindi groups in [[India]] in the former case or the Kushans, Scythians, Huns, & Mongols in the latter case). The long history of the region means many of the cultures and ethnic groups have long histories of with each other with both peaceful and violent interactions with each other like in the European Balkans.

== Middle Eastern Religion, Gods and Mythology ==

More than any other region, the Middle East is indelibly linked to the history of monotheism. Greek and Egyptian polytheistic systems coexisted alongside Persian Zoroastrianism and the Abrahamic Hebrew and many other minor sects. All of which were subjugated in the successive conquests of Alexander, and then Rome behind him.

The Romans acted as a great plow, tilling the region and leaving all the minor tribes and faiths fertile for proselytization. And the winner of this great disruption was Abrahamism, which stomped out most of its competitors (ie, the Gnostics). Christianity rose in lockstep with opposition to Roman rule, and then Islam in turn followed it as a response to the void as the empire fell, and finally eastern orthodoxy as the Catholic church began to schism.

By 1100 AD, the following could be said:

* Islam commanded the majority of the region, with the Shia branch being strongest in old Persia and the Sunni being dominant pretty much everywhere else.
* Eastern Orthodox Christians (in Coptic, Assyrian and Greek flavors) were entrenched as minorities in the old Greek colonies north of Arabia, in Assyrian region (yes, the nation is still there, but is very small now) and in Egypt. The Ibadi moderate spinoffs from the Khawarij were restricted to Oman with small pockets in the Sahara.
* Zoroastrianism and Judaism were entrenched as minorities all over, with some concentration in their respective homelands of Persia and Jerusalem respectively.
* Polytheism in the Middle East, both in its Egyptian and Hellenistic flavors, was extinct.

== Middle Eastern Magic ==

Placeholder 4

==Middle East Analogs in Fantasy==

* [[Araby]] (duh), [[Badlands]] (in geographical sense) and [[Darklands]] (culturally) in [[Warhammer Fantasy Battle]].
* [[Tallarn Desert Raiders]] Regiment of [[Imperial Guard]] in [[Warhammer 40,000]].
* [[Al-Qadim]] campaign setting from [[DnD]]
* Near Harad from [[Lord of the Rings]]
* Prince of Persia series of vidya
* Shaqqislam factions in [[Infinity]]

[[Category: History]]

Middle East

2022-05-04T18:15:07Z

2607:FB90:6FF4:7A06:D087:A795:6215:797A: /* Middle Eastern Culture */

{{skubby}}

[[image:Middle_East.png|thumb|300px|right|A thousand sights, a thousand nights, a thousand years, a thousand tears...]]
{{topquote|They say in the Middle East - a pessimist is simply an optimist with experience.| Ehud Barak}}

The Middle East is a region that broadly spans from [[Egypt]] in the west to [[India]] in the east with northern and southern borders being the Black & Caspian sea and the Arabian Sea respectively. In the middle of all of this is over 6000 years of civilization, at least half-a-dozen awesome and significant cultures, more history than you can shake a...anything at really and also a fuckton of culture, wars and mineable stuff. The importance of the region and it's myriad of cultures has not lessened in the 20th and 21st centuries as the region continues to be, if not exactly influential, then influenced due to the resources and politics going on around it and within it.

Since it is Europe's closest neighbour, the region and it's societies have been interacting with the smorgasbord of Europe's cultures since at least the [[Bronze Age]] so there are a number of analogues of Middle Eastern societies in fantasy and even sci-fi. Dungeons and Dragons has [[Al-Qadim]], [[Lord of the Rings]] has Harad, Game of Thrones has Mereen and so on. And this is not even counting [[Video Games]] either.

== Middle Eastern History ==

The Middle East, being one of the ¨cradles of civilization¨ has metric gigatons of history under it's belt, more than even [[China]] so the sections below will be the broadest overviews by necessity. Still the history van be roughly divided into 4 periods with a number of sub-periods within each. So strap yourself in as we dive into the deep end of history.

=== Ancient History (4000 BC - 500 AD) ===
[[image:Babylon.png|thumb|300px|right|Between the time when the oceans drank Atlantis and the rise of the sons of Aryas, there was an age undreamed of...]]
After the period of various neolithic cultures discovering agriculture, the first human towns and city-states began to form (these could go back to as early as 9000-7000 BC as attested by Catal Huyuk and Jericho). The most prominent cities of this period were Uruk, Babillon, Elam and others. Two civilizations of note arose in this era around 3500 BC - Sumer and Akkad which are famous for their ziggurats (OG pyramids) and for laying the basis for much of civilization in the west since their stuff was picked up by Egyptians, then Greeks and so on. In about 2340 BC Sargon the Great united the various city-states in the south and thus founded the Akkadian dynasty - the world's first empire.

This set a kind of precedent for future powerful empires that would come to rule almost the entire Middle East. After Akkadians, of note are the Assyrian Empires of 1365–1076 BC and the Neo-Assyrian Empire of 911–605 BC. The Assyrian Empire at its peak was the largest the world had yet seen. It ruled all of what is now Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Kuwait, Jordan, [[Egypt]], Cyprus, and Bahrain—with large swathes of Iran, Turkey, Armenia, Georgia, Sudan, and Arabia.

From the early 6th century BC onwards there were several Persian states that dominated the region, beginning with the non-Persian Neo-Babylonian Empire, then their successor the Achaemenid Empire also known as the first Persian Empire. In the 300s BC a gigachad guy called Alexander the Great decided that he wanted to rule the world and so he went ahead and conquered everything from Greece to Egypt all the way to the border of [[India]]. Sadly he died just as he was getting to the process of ruling his mega-empire and in a final moment of chadery he declared that his empire would belong "to the strongest" and within 5 minutes there were a bunch of successor empires like the Seleucids, Bactrians, Ptolemaic [[Egypt]] and others, and virtually all of them had a city called Alexandria but the one in Egypt mattered most.

After Alexander, the various Alexandrian successor states were dicking around with each other, not noticing the big roman-shaped shadow rising in the west. In 66–63 BC the Roman general Pompey got shit done and conquered much of the Middle East in one fell swoop. The Romans united the region into yet another giga-empire and integrated the region with most of Europe and North Africa in terms of politics and economics, not to mention the globalising effect of free transit for imperial citizens and dependents. Even areas not directly under Rome were strongly influenced by the Empire which was the most powerful political and cultural entity for centuries.

Though Romans brought much of their culture, law and customs to the region, the Greek culture and language continued to dominate as well, being another strong cultural factor. The region effectively became the Empire's "bread basket" as the key agricultural producer and as a somewhat of a consolation for egyptians who survived as a culture this long - Ægyptus became by far the most wealthy Roman province and a center of learning.

It's also worth mentioning that to the east of Roman Empire were also two major polities - the Parthian and the Kushan empires. The former represented a constant threat to Rome's eastern boundaries before transitioning into the Sassanid Empire due to internal strife while Kushan would do it's own thing. There is also evidence of Tang [[China]] doing trade with the region and even being aware of Rome. Lastly, starting from the 30s AD - Christianity would see a significant spread from Palestine/Judea though it would not advance much farther east than Euphrates-Tigris border in a significant manner.

After the fragmentation of the Western Roman Empire, the eastern half decided that it really liked the color purple and rebranded itself as...the Roman Empire (Byzantium being an anachronistic modern name but we will roll with it for the sake of convenience). Byzantium continued to trudge along, occupying the western portion of the region and even expanding to reconquer a respectable amount of the former Roman Empire in the 500s though from there it would decline in favour of other powers.

=== Medieval History (500 - 1000) ===
[[image:Bazaar.png|thumb|300px|right|You want it? It's yours sadiq, so long as you have enough gold!]]
In the 5-6th centuries the Middle East was separated into small, weak states loomed over by two vast empires - the Sasanian Empire of the Persians and the Byzantine Empire in Anatolia plus the Levant. The Byzantines and Sasanians dicked with each other as a neat reflection of the rivalry between the Roman and the Persian empires. The Byzantine-Sasanian rivalry was also seen through their respective cultures and religions. The Byzantines were the champions of Hellenism and Christianity while the Sasanians thought themselves heroes of ancient Iranian traditions and of the traditional Persian religion - Zoroastrianism.

Meanwhile, down south we have the Arabian Peninsula which largely was and continued to be a dustbowl of little importance. The nomadic Bedouin tribes dominated the Arabian deserts where they worshiped idols and were organised into small clans based on mutual kinship. There were scant cities and agriculture in Arabia except for Mecca and Medina (then called Yathrib) which were important hubs for trade between Africa and Eurasia with most citizens there being merchants - this all will become important VERY SOON.

Right around 620-30s there arose a new ofshoot of abrahamic religions - Islam, and it would become big, really big. The details on Islam can be found on the respective [[Mythology|page]] or on the other wiki, but the religion blew up FAST and in some 40 years after it's inception managed to conquer whole of Arabia, Persia and vast swathes of Byzantine empire. An interesting thing about Islam is that it's prophet Mohammad was also a military and political leader and while Jesus or Buddha left us general ethical and metaphysical messages, Mohammad was around for a bit longer and proscribed social and political tenets to the faith which gave rise to the concept of a Caliphate - a theocratic social polity that was to be the way to run things. The conquest stopped in the 750s as the new Caliphate ran out of steam and the usual fracturing between successors began after Muhammad was unalived, but Islam had by this time profiled itself as the pre-eminent socio-political and religious force in the Middle East under the various dynasties of the Caliphates.

Shortly after Islam became the dominant religion in Arabia, the Muslim conquests expanded ''very'' rapidly east and west, spreading across all of North Africa and even into southern Europe, where they claimed the entirety of Spain for centuries and besieged large parts of Italy and France. The Byzantines and Franks successfully halted further expansion, but Caliphate still claimed enough territory to rival and eventually supersede the Byzantines. The wealth and power that came with it ensured that the formerly backwater state of Arabia would remain a powerhouse for years to come.

The Arabian islamic vanguard would continue to dominate the newly conquered and islamised lands for the next 300 years. When Muhammad introduced Islam it had a the effect of nearly erasing the other various Middle Eastern cultures, although it also inspired advances in architecture, science, technology, and the formation of a distinct way of life giving it overall a mixed heritage. Islam also created the need for spectacularly built mosques to flex on their Abrahamic siblings which also created a unique form of architecture. Meanwhile, missionaries and warriors worked to forcibly spread the religion from Arabia to North and Sudanic Africa, South and Southeast Asia, and the Mesopotamia area. This created a potent mix of cultures, especially in Africa. Lastly, the "People of the Book" (Christians, Jews, and Zoroastrians) were allowed to live although in second class conditions. This courtesy wasn't extended to members of polytheist religions or Buddhism, with those folks being given the option of convert or die. This period would be disrupted by two events - the arrival of Seljuks/Turks and the Crusades.

=== The Crusades (1000 - 1300) ===
In the 1000's, the Persians (now rebranded as the Seljuks) started some shit with the Byzantines that ultimately ended with them sacking Constantinople. Between the eastern armies crossing the Hellespont and the blocking of pilgrimages into Jerusalem was the last straw for Christendom, and war were declared, whereupon thousands of ambitious princes, mercenaries, fugitives, and fanatics swarmed to Venice, got on boats, and proceeded to invade Jerusalem, intending to take back the Holy Land for Christendom from the Mohammedans.

Individual crusades were met with varied success; the first Crusade successfully caught the Seljuks offguard and led to the creation of the so-called Crusader States, which lasted for about a hundred years. Then an Arab warlord named Saladin who broke off from the Seljuks successfully rallied the people of Egypt and Syria to reclaim Jerusalem; following this, several more crusades were waged by Europe to retake the city, none of which were successful. Several centuries of war ensued, and while the invaders from Europe won the occasional dramatic victory, they were eventually forced away, although it did end any aspirations of Islam forcing its culture upon Europe.

And as the stalwart defenders of Arabia stood on the coast of Palestine, watching the sun set on their retreating enemies, they suddenly heard behind them the cheers and horse hooves of a million GODDAMN MONGOLIANS.

[[image:Constantinople-from-the-entrance-thomas-allom.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Lots of ottomans there, also some Ottomans. ]]

=== Ottoman Period (1300 - 1918) ===
The Ilkhanate hordes of Tulai ultimately were held out of Arabia, although the Seljuks fell to them completely. But as has been established in many other articles featuring the Mongols, they weren't very good at REMAINING Mongol once they ran out of things to put arrows in; in this case they discovered Islam and for once decided that some outsider's religion was actually their kind of thing, probably having to do with a similar bloodthirstiness towards "the other". What succeeded them was the Ottoman empire. Over the next 500 years the Ottomans would largely reunite all of the former Roman territories east of Cisalpine Gaul, into a massive, mostly-Islamic caliphate held together by the Turks, Greeks, and Egyptians that formed its foundation.

The power that held the Ottomans together was the [[Space Marines|Janissaries]]. A Janissary was a Christian male from the Balkan areas of the Empire, forcibly conscripted in youth and forced to convert to Islam (including getting circumcised, since the conscriptees would have been mostly Orthodox), and then subjected to a rigorous military training that made them one of the most elite fighting forces of their time. They were forbidden to marry before forty, but were paid a lifetime salary. Although a brutal system, the resulting army was exceptionally professional, impartial to the empire's many tribes and territories, and utterly loyal to the Sultanate. The net effect of the Janissaries were that the individual animosities of various sects were dampened under Ottoman rule, in favor of the [[Tau|greater greed]] of the Sultanate.

For most of it's life, the Ottoman empire wasn't a terribly bad place to live if you were a Muslim. There was relative peace and prosperity due to flourishing trade as it stood at the crossroads between the Mediterranean and the sea routes to the far east. There was religious freedom as long as taxes were paid (except for non-monotheists) and all the wealth and luxuries of the world to be found in their markets. Interestingly, there were THREE separate, government sanctioned court systems, specifically one system for muslims, another for christians & jews, and the trade courts which handled civil and commercial disputes. The good times ended however when the Europeans discovered that it was slightly cheaper to sail all the fuck way around Africa than to pay Ottoman taxes.

[[image:ModernMiddleEast.jpg|thumb|300px|right|We've come a long way, eh sadiq?]]

=== Modern History (1918 - 20XX) ===
After Ottoman Empire was defeated and WW1 ended, French and Brits decided to screw their own Middle Eastern allies (as usual) and set up their own colonial regimes and puppet states, this was all but codified in the secret Sykes-Picot Agreement which created a bunch of artificial states that would all but guarantee that the region north of Saudi Arabia would remain a socio-political quagmire for many decades to come. Most notable ones are French Syria, British Palestine and Kuwait, as well as marionette Kingdom of Iraq. Saudi Arabia was also formed in that time period from old Arabian peninsula states, while Oman and Yemen became British puppets. This status quo remained all the way up to 1950s, even during WWII (well, if you don't count joint Allied intervention to Iran to prevent it from joining the Axis and get a new safe way for a land-lease, as well as short Iraqi campaign to weed out pro-Hitler Golden Square Party).

During the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s, Syria and Egypt made moves towards independence since the Sick man of Bosphorus was fast dying of anachronism and lack of key reforms. Although the Kingdom of Egypt was technically "neutral" during World War II, Cairo soon became a major military base for the British and the country was occupied. In Palestine, a potent shitstorm was brewing as conflicting forces of Arab nationalism and Zionism created a situation the British could neither resolve nor gtfo from. The rise of Germany's Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party, who the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem told the idea of the Holocaust to, had created a new urgency in the Zionist quest to immigrate to Palestine and create a Jewish state.

The modern Middle East was primarily shaped by three factors - decolonisation as Europe just gave up on the overcomplicated region to deal with issues at home, the founding of the state of Israel with all the "FUN" that entailed, and the growing importance of this stinky slimy substance called oil. A further layer of complexity was added by the new [[Cold War]] order which saw the world's two remaining superpowers - the USA/NATO and USSR/Warsaw Pact take a keen interest in the region due to various opportunities to dick with each other and the region being the largest (then) known source of civilization-driving oil, with the U.S.A. supporting Israel's right to exist, and the Soviets supporting Palestine's wish to drive the Jews into the sea, figuring they could finish off the Jews and have one less religion they'd have to finish off themselves if they could conquer the Middle East.

== Middle Eastern Culture ==

In general, Middle Eastern and Central Asian cultures in the region can be split into Semitic (Hebrew, Syriac, Arab, etc), Iranic (Farsi, Tajik, Baloch, etc), and Turkic (Azeri, Kazakh, Uzbek, etc) alongside related/historically related groups on the outer edges of the region (such as the Caucasus-inhabiting Armenians or Georgians and the Urdu-Hindi groups in [[India]] in the former case or the Kushans, Scythians, Huns, & Mongols in the latter case).

== Middle Eastern Religion, Gods and Mythology ==

More than any other region, the Middle East is indelibly linked to the history of monotheism. Greek and Egyptian polytheistic systems coexisted alongside Persian Zoroastrianism and the Abrahamic Hebrew and many other minor sects. All of which were subjugated in the successive conquests of Alexander, and then Rome behind him.

The Romans acted as a great plow, tilling the region and leaving all the minor tribes and faiths fertile for proselytization. And the winner of this great disruption was Abrahamism, which stomped out most of its competitors (ie, the Gnostics). Christianity rose in lockstep with opposition to Roman rule, and then Islam in turn followed it as a response to the void as the empire fell, and finally eastern orthodoxy as the Catholic church began to schism.

By 1100 AD, the following could be said:

* Islam commanded the majority of the region, with the Shia branch being strongest in old Persia and the Sunni being dominant pretty much everywhere else.
* Eastern Orthodox Christians (in Coptic, Assyrian and Greek flavors) were entrenched as minorities in the old Greek colonies north of Arabia, in Assyrian region (yes, the nation is still there, but is very small now) and in Egypt. The Ibadi moderate spinoffs from the Khawarij were restricted to Oman with small pockets in the Sahara.
* Zoroastrianism and Judaism were entrenched as minorities all over, with some concentration in their respective homelands of Persia and Jerusalem respectively.
* Polytheism in the Middle East, both in its Egyptian and Hellenistic flavors, was extinct.

== Middle Eastern Magic ==

Placeholder 4

==Middle East Analogs in Fantasy==

* [[Araby]] (duh), [[Badlands]] (in geographical sense) and [[Darklands]] (culturally) in [[Warhammer Fantasy Battle]].
* [[Tallarn Desert Raiders]] Regiment of [[Imperial Guard]] in [[Warhammer 40,000]].
* [[Al-Qadim]] campaign setting from [[DnD]]
* Near Harad from [[Lord of the Rings]]
* Prince of Persia series of vidya
* Shaqqislam factions in [[Infinity]]

[[Category: History]]

Middle East

2022-05-04T18:08:01Z

2607:FB90:6FF4:7A06:D087:A795:6215:797A: /* Middle Eastern Religion, Gods and Mythology */

{{skubby}}

[[image:Middle_East.png|thumb|300px|right|A thousand sights, a thousand nights, a thousand years, a thousand tears...]]
{{topquote|They say in the Middle East - a pessimist is simply an optimist with experience.| Ehud Barak}}

The Middle East is a region that broadly spans from [[Egypt]] in the west to [[India]] in the east with northern and southern borders being the Black & Caspian sea and the Arabian Sea respectively. In the middle of all of this is over 6000 years of civilization, at least half-a-dozen awesome and significant cultures, more history than you can shake a...anything at really and also a fuckton of culture, wars and mineable stuff. The importance of the region and it's myriad of cultures has not lessened in the 20th and 21st centuries as the region continues to be, if not exactly influential, then influenced due to the resources and politics going on around it and within it.

Since it is Europe's closest neighbour, the region and it's societies have been interacting with the smorgasbord of Europe's cultures since at least the [[Bronze Age]] so there are a number of analogues of Middle Eastern societies in fantasy and even sci-fi. Dungeons and Dragons has [[Al-Qadim]], [[Lord of the Rings]] has Harad, Game of Thrones has Mereen and so on. And this is not even counting [[Video Games]] either.

== Middle Eastern History ==

The Middle East, being one of the ¨cradles of civilization¨ has metric gigatons of history under it's belt, more than even [[China]] so the sections below will be the broadest overviews by necessity. Still the history van be roughly divided into 4 periods with a number of sub-periods within each. So strap yourself in as we dive into the deep end of history.

=== Ancient History (4000 BC - 500 AD) ===
[[image:Babylon.png|thumb|300px|right|Between the time when the oceans drank Atlantis and the rise of the sons of Aryas, there was an age undreamed of...]]
After the period of various neolithic cultures discovering agriculture, the first human towns and city-states began to form (these could go back to as early as 9000-7000 BC as attested by Catal Huyuk and Jericho). The most prominent cities of this period were Uruk, Babillon, Elam and others. Two civilizations of note arose in this era around 3500 BC - Sumer and Akkad which are famous for their ziggurats (OG pyramids) and for laying the basis for much of civilization in the west since their stuff was picked up by Egyptians, then Greeks and so on. In about 2340 BC Sargon the Great united the various city-states in the south and thus founded the Akkadian dynasty - the world's first empire.

This set a kind of precedent for future powerful empires that would come to rule almost the entire Middle East. After Akkadians, of note are the Assyrian Empires of 1365–1076 BC and the Neo-Assyrian Empire of 911–605 BC. The Assyrian Empire at its peak was the largest the world had yet seen. It ruled all of what is now Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Kuwait, Jordan, [[Egypt]], Cyprus, and Bahrain—with large swathes of Iran, Turkey, Armenia, Georgia, Sudan, and Arabia.

From the early 6th century BC onwards there were several Persian states that dominated the region, beginning with the non-Persian Neo-Babylonian Empire, then their successor the Achaemenid Empire also known as the first Persian Empire. In the 300s BC a gigachad guy called Alexander the Great decided that he wanted to rule the world and so he went ahead and conquered everything from Greece to Egypt all the way to the border of [[India]]. Sadly he died just as he was getting to the process of ruling his mega-empire and in a final moment of chadery he declared that his empire would belong "to the strongest" and within 5 minutes there were a bunch of successor empires like the Seleucids, Bactrians, Ptolemaic [[Egypt]] and others, and virtually all of them had a city called Alexandria but the one in Egypt mattered most.

After Alexander, the various Alexandrian successor states were dicking around with each other, not noticing the big roman-shaped shadow rising in the west. In 66–63 BC the Roman general Pompey got shit done and conquered much of the Middle East in one fell swoop. The Romans united the region into yet another giga-empire and integrated the region with most of Europe and North Africa in terms of politics and economics, not to mention the globalising effect of free transit for imperial citizens and dependents. Even areas not directly under Rome were strongly influenced by the Empire which was the most powerful political and cultural entity for centuries.

Though Romans brought much of their culture, law and customs to the region, the Greek culture and language continued to dominate as well, being another strong cultural factor. The region effectively became the Empire's "bread basket" as the key agricultural producer and as a somewhat of a consolation for egyptians who survived as a culture this long - Ægyptus became by far the most wealthy Roman province and a center of learning.

It's also worth mentioning that to the east of Roman Empire were also two major polities - the Parthian and the Kushan empires. The former represented a constant threat to Rome's eastern boundaries before transitioning into the Sassanid Empire due to internal strife while Kushan would do it's own thing. There is also evidence of Tang [[China]] doing trade with the region and even being aware of Rome. Lastly, starting from the 30s AD - Christianity would see a significant spread from Palestine/Judea though it would not advance much farther east than Euphrates-Tigris border in a significant manner.

After the fragmentation of the Western Roman Empire, the eastern half decided that it really liked the color purple and rebranded itself as...the Roman Empire (Byzantium being an anachronistic modern name but we will roll with it for the sake of convenience). Byzantium continued to trudge along, occupying the western portion of the region and even expanding to reconquer a respectable amount of the former Roman Empire in the 500s though from there it would decline in favour of other powers.

=== Medieval History (500 - 1000) ===
[[image:Bazaar.png|thumb|300px|right|You want it? It's yours sadiq, so long as you have enough gold!]]
In the 5-6th centuries the Middle East was separated into small, weak states loomed over by two vast empires - the Sasanian Empire of the Persians and the Byzantine Empire in Anatolia plus the Levant. The Byzantines and Sasanians dicked with each other as a neat reflection of the rivalry between the Roman and the Persian empires. The Byzantine-Sasanian rivalry was also seen through their respective cultures and religions. The Byzantines were the champions of Hellenism and Christianity while the Sasanians thought themselves heroes of ancient Iranian traditions and of the traditional Persian religion - Zoroastrianism.

Meanwhile, down south we have the Arabian Peninsula which largely was and continued to be a dustbowl of little importance. The nomadic Bedouin tribes dominated the Arabian deserts where they worshiped idols and were organised into small clans based on mutual kinship. There were scant cities and agriculture in Arabia except for Mecca and Medina (then called Yathrib) which were important hubs for trade between Africa and Eurasia with most citizens there being merchants - this all will become important VERY SOON.

Right around 620-30s there arose a new ofshoot of abrahamic religions - Islam, and it would become big, really big. The details on Islam can be found on the respective [[Mythology|page]] or on the other wiki, but the religion blew up FAST and in some 40 years after it's inception managed to conquer whole of Arabia, Persia and vast swathes of Byzantine empire. An interesting thing about Islam is that it's prophet Mohammad was also a military and political leader and while Jesus or Buddha left us general ethical and metaphysical messages, Mohammad was around for a bit longer and proscribed social and political tenets to the faith which gave rise to the concept of a Caliphate - a theocratic social polity that was to be the way to run things. The conquest stopped in the 750s as the new Caliphate ran out of steam and the usual fracturing between successors began after Muhammad was unalived, but Islam had by this time profiled itself as the pre-eminent socio-political and religious force in the Middle East under the various dynasties of the Caliphates.

Shortly after Islam became the dominant religion in Arabia, the Muslim conquests expanded ''very'' rapidly east and west, spreading across all of North Africa and even into southern Europe, where they claimed the entirety of Spain for centuries and besieged large parts of Italy and France. The Byzantines and Franks successfully halted further expansion, but Caliphate still claimed enough territory to rival and eventually supersede the Byzantines. The wealth and power that came with it ensured that the formerly backwater state of Arabia would remain a powerhouse for years to come.

The Arabian islamic vanguard would continue to dominate the newly conquered and islamised lands for the next 300 years. When Muhammad introduced Islam it had a the effect of nearly erasing the other various Middle Eastern cultures, although it also inspired advances in architecture, science, technology, and the formation of a distinct way of life giving it overall a mixed heritage. Islam also created the need for spectacularly built mosques to flex on their Abrahamic siblings which also created a unique form of architecture. Meanwhile, missionaries and warriors worked to forcibly spread the religion from Arabia to North and Sudanic Africa, South and Southeast Asia, and the Mesopotamia area. This created a potent mix of cultures, especially in Africa. Lastly, the "People of the Book" (Christians, Jews, and Zoroastrians) were allowed to live although in second class conditions. This courtesy wasn't extended to members of polytheist religions or Buddhism, with those folks being given the option of convert or die. This period would be disrupted by two events - the arrival of Seljuks/Turks and the Crusades.

=== The Crusades (1000 - 1300) ===
In the 1000's, the Persians (now rebranded as the Seljuks) started some shit with the Byzantines that ultimately ended with them sacking Constantinople. Between the eastern armies crossing the Hellespont and the blocking of pilgrimages into Jerusalem was the last straw for Christendom, and war were declared, whereupon thousands of ambitious princes, mercenaries, fugitives, and fanatics swarmed to Venice, got on boats, and proceeded to invade Jerusalem, intending to take back the Holy Land for Christendom from the Mohammedans.

Individual crusades were met with varied success; the first Crusade successfully caught the Seljuks offguard and led to the creation of the so-called Crusader States, which lasted for about a hundred years. Then an Arab warlord named Saladin who broke off from the Seljuks successfully rallied the people of Egypt and Syria to reclaim Jerusalem; following this, several more crusades were waged by Europe to retake the city, none of which were successful. Several centuries of war ensued, and while the invaders from Europe won the occasional dramatic victory, they were eventually forced away, although it did end any aspirations of Islam forcing its culture upon Europe.

And as the stalwart defenders of Arabia stood on the coast of Palestine, watching the sun set on their retreating enemies, they suddenly heard behind them the cheers and horse hooves of a million GODDAMN MONGOLIANS.

[[image:Constantinople-from-the-entrance-thomas-allom.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Lots of ottomans there, also some Ottomans. ]]

=== Ottoman Period (1300 - 1918) ===
The Ilkhanate hordes of Tulai ultimately were held out of Arabia, although the Seljuks fell to them completely. But as has been established in many other articles featuring the Mongols, they weren't very good at REMAINING Mongol once they ran out of things to put arrows in; in this case they discovered Islam and for once decided that some outsider's religion was actually their kind of thing, probably having to do with a similar bloodthirstiness towards "the other". What succeeded them was the Ottoman empire. Over the next 500 years the Ottomans would largely reunite all of the former Roman territories east of Cisalpine Gaul, into a massive, mostly-Islamic caliphate held together by the Turks, Greeks, and Egyptians that formed its foundation.

The power that held the Ottomans together was the [[Space Marines|Janissaries]]. A Janissary was a Christian male from the Balkan areas of the Empire, forcibly conscripted in youth and forced to convert to Islam (including getting circumcised, since the conscriptees would have been mostly Orthodox), and then subjected to a rigorous military training that made them one of the most elite fighting forces of their time. They were forbidden to marry before forty, but were paid a lifetime salary. Although a brutal system, the resulting army was exceptionally professional, impartial to the empire's many tribes and territories, and utterly loyal to the Sultanate. The net effect of the Janissaries were that the individual animosities of various sects were dampened under Ottoman rule, in favor of the [[Tau|greater greed]] of the Sultanate.

For most of it's life, the Ottoman empire wasn't a terribly bad place to live if you were a Muslim. There was relative peace and prosperity due to flourishing trade as it stood at the crossroads between the Mediterranean and the sea routes to the far east. There was religious freedom as long as taxes were paid (except for non-monotheists) and all the wealth and luxuries of the world to be found in their markets. Interestingly, there were THREE separate, government sanctioned court systems, specifically one system for muslims, another for christians & jews, and the trade courts which handled civil and commercial disputes. The good times ended however when the Europeans discovered that it was slightly cheaper to sail all the fuck way around Africa than to pay Ottoman taxes.

[[image:ModernMiddleEast.jpg|thumb|300px|right|We've come a long way, eh sadiq?]]

=== Modern History (1918 - 20XX) ===
After Ottoman Empire was defeated and WW1 ended, French and Brits decided to screw their own Middle Eastern allies (as usual) and set up their own colonial regimes and puppet states, this was all but codified in the secret Sykes-Picot Agreement which created a bunch of artificial states that would all but guarantee that the region north of Saudi Arabia would remain a socio-political quagmire for many decades to come. Most notable ones are French Syria, British Palestine and Kuwait, as well as marionette Kingdom of Iraq. Saudi Arabia was also formed in that time period from old Arabian peninsula states, while Oman and Yemen became British puppets. This status quo remained all the way up to 1950s, even during WWII (well, if you don't count joint Allied intervention to Iran to prevent it from joining the Axis and get a new safe way for a land-lease, as well as short Iraqi campaign to weed out pro-Hitler Golden Square Party).

During the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s, Syria and Egypt made moves towards independence since the Sick man of Bosphorus was fast dying of anachronism and lack of key reforms. Although the Kingdom of Egypt was technically "neutral" during World War II, Cairo soon became a major military base for the British and the country was occupied. In Palestine, a potent shitstorm was brewing as conflicting forces of Arab nationalism and Zionism created a situation the British could neither resolve nor gtfo from. The rise of Germany's Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party, who the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem told the idea of the Holocaust to, had created a new urgency in the Zionist quest to immigrate to Palestine and create a Jewish state.

The modern Middle East was primarily shaped by three factors - decolonisation as Europe just gave up on the overcomplicated region to deal with issues at home, the founding of the state of Israel with all the "FUN" that entailed, and the growing importance of this stinky slimy substance called oil. A further layer of complexity was added by the new [[Cold War]] order which saw the world's two remaining superpowers - the USA/NATO and USSR/Warsaw Pact take a keen interest in the region due to various opportunities to dick with each other and the region being the largest (then) known source of civilization-driving oil, with the U.S.A. supporting Israel's right to exist, and the Soviets supporting Palestine's wish to drive the Jews into the sea, figuring they could finish off the Jews and have one less religion they'd have to finish off themselves if they could conquer the Middle East.

== Middle Eastern Culture ==

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== Middle Eastern Religion, Gods and Mythology ==

More than any other region, the Middle East is indelibly linked to the history of monotheism. Greek and Egyptian polytheistic systems coexisted alongside Persian Zoroastrianism and the Abrahamic Hebrew and many other minor sects. All of which were subjugated in the successive conquests of Alexander, and then Rome behind him.

The Romans acted as a great plow, tilling the region and leaving all the minor tribes and faiths fertile for proselytization. And the winner of this great disruption was Abrahamism, which stomped out most of its competitors (ie, the Gnostics). Christianity rose in lockstep with opposition to Roman rule, and then Islam in turn followed it as a response to the void as the empire fell, and finally eastern orthodoxy as the Catholic church began to schism.

By 1100 AD, the following could be said:

* Islam commanded the majority of the region, with the Shia branch being strongest in old Persia and the Sunni being dominant pretty much everywhere else.
* Eastern Orthodox Christians (in Coptic, Assyrian and Greek flavors) were entrenched as minorities in the old Greek colonies north of Arabia, in Assyrian region (yes, the nation is still there, but is very small now) and in Egypt. The Ibadi moderate spinoffs from the Khawarij were restricted to Oman with small pockets in the Sahara.
* Zoroastrianism and Judaism were entrenched as minorities all over, with some concentration in their respective homelands of Persia and Jerusalem respectively.
* Polytheism in the Middle East, both in its Egyptian and Hellenistic flavors, was extinct.

== Middle Eastern Magic ==

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==Middle East Analogs in Fantasy==

* [[Araby]] (duh), [[Badlands]] (in geographical sense) and [[Darklands]] (culturally) in [[Warhammer Fantasy Battle]].
* [[Tallarn Desert Raiders]] Regiment of [[Imperial Guard]] in [[Warhammer 40,000]].
* [[Al-Qadim]] campaign setting from [[DnD]]
* Near Harad from [[Lord of the Rings]]
* Prince of Persia series of vidya
* Shaqqislam factions in [[Infinity]]

[[Category: History]]